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THE HISTORY OF 
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



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Frow fl painling by Gilbert Stuart 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



THE HISTORY 



OF THE 



AMERICAN PEOPLE 



BY 

CHARLES A. BEARD 

AND 

WILLIAM C. BAGLEY 



SPECIAL EDITION 

FOR 

ARMY EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION 
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1918 

All rights renewed 



i>\ 



Copyright, 1918, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

Set up and electrotypcd. Published May, 19180 



TRANSFER 
«. O. PUBLIC LIBIUJBY 
SaPT. lo,l940 



NorJDooU ?3resB 

J. S. Gushing Co. —Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



'?^ 



/ - -5 

PREFACE 

One great motive has dominated the content and ar- 
rangement of this volume : the preparation of children for 
citizenship through an understanding of the ideals, institu- 
tions, achievements, and problems of our country. No 
mere almanac of facts, dates, and names, no matter how 
exhaustive or how presented, can accomplish this purpose. 
It can be done only by teaching boys and girls to think of 
events and issues of the living present in the light of their 
historical past, by giving them above all a sense of historical 
» continuity. 

I We have sought to catch the deep-flowing and powerful 
I currents of American life, to present them fairly and justly, 
I to engage the interest of the students in them, and to show 
1 their significance to the issues of the present hour. Only 
» in this way does history become living. Only in this way 
can pupils be shown why theyshould study history. Such 
I a story of American life and'laborarfd ideals, if rightly told, 
must challenge the admiration and faith of those who be- 
lieve that democracy is not to perish from the earth but to 
flourish and triumph everywhere. 

In carrying out our ideal we have selected those striking 
features of American history which bear upon and help to 
explain our own age. We have conceived of the whole as 
a vital, moving story with certain very definite and funda- 
mental acts and scenes. We have sought to give to the book 
that unity which comes from such a controlling purpose, and 
have subordinated to it all details and collateral matter. 
In the execution of this plan we divided the whole field 



vi PREFACE 

of American history into periods and topics. Having agreed 
upon the fundamentals necessary for a book of historical 
instruction in citizenship, we then broke each fundamental 
up into its essential parts. If a famous event or time- 
honored story required telling, we adjusted it to the unity 
so planned. At no time did we permit the love of novelty 
or mere respect for the traditional materials of schoolbooks 
to betray us into sacrificing the sweep of the magnificent 
story to the supposed requirements of the all-comprehending 
*^ manual." 

This plan has necessitated the omission of many of the 
staples of the textbooks. For example, the space given to the 
North American Indians has been materially reduced. They 
are interesting and picturesque, but they made no impress 
upon the civilization of the United States. In a history de- 
signed to explain the present rather than to gratify curiosity 
and entertain, Indian habits of life and Indian wars must have 
a very minor position. So it is with many a famous anec- 
dote used to adorn our history tales. They, too, have been 
sacrificed, with regret but firmness, to the guiding purpose 
agreed upon at the outset. 

In a plan so conceived, the topical method of treatment 
inevitably takes precedence over the purely chronological 
method. One striking advantage of this treatment is to 
bring forcibly to the attention of the students the essential 
feature of each historical period. It helps them to think 
of history in terms of great interests and achievements 
rather than in terms of presidential administrations. The 
story of America cannot be cut into quadrennial sections. 
Nevertheless the topical method is open to some objections, 
and we have tried to meet them by summaries and tables 
and in many instances by repetition of facts in different 
connections. As a result of this treatment students will not 
gain, for example, the impression that the people of this 



PREFACE vii 

country, between 1820 and i860, lived either by presidential 
administrations or by the slavery controversy alone. 

American history should not be presented as a shadowy 
record of mysterious personages, far removed from the life 
and labor of the masses. Such history does not interest or 
inform the child. Furthermore, it is not true history. 
America has been made by the labors, sacrifices, and ideals 
of millions of men, women, and children unhonored and un- 
sung in the ordinary books. That is the essence of democ- 
racy. The fate of the nation in a very real sense lies in the 
hands of their sons and daughters who study its history in 
the public schools. They are to be the makers of history as 
well as the students of it, and this fact cannot be too often 
brought home to them. The achievements, traditions, 
ideals of the past — these are sources of inspiration to those 
who hold the future in their hands. To help make these an 
open book to the coming generations is the underlying pur- 
pose of this volume. 

In thus recasting American history we think that we have 
not omitted an event or a date or a personality of cardinal 
importance. Moreover, we have endeavored to avoid any- 
thing that looks like distortion to meet preconceived views. 
We have sought to be fair to all parties and to give grounds 
for just judgment. If we have made errors of omission or 
commission, we shall be glad to learn of them and to correct 
our record accordingly. 

C. A. B. 
W. C. B. 

New York City, 
April 19, 1918. 



TO THE TEACHER 

A manual for teachers has been prepared to accompany 
this book. There are, however, certain suggestions regard- 
ing the use of the book as a text that may be briefly stated 
here : 

1. The chapters are subdivided into convenient lesson- 
units. The questions at the end of each chapter are grouped 
and numbered (with Roman numerals) according to these 
units. 

2. The "Problems for Further Study'' given at the close 
of each chapter are intended to be only suggestive of what 
pupils may be asked to look up and work out for themselves, 
either individually or in groups. Page references are given 
in connection with many of the problems, but the references, 
too, are only suggestive. Pupils who have access to other 
books should be encouraged to bring in additional informa- 
tion. 

3. At the close of each important period will be found a 
list, "Outline for Review." Only the more important 
topics are given in these lists. In the work of review the 
pupils should be encouraged to expand the outline by in- 
serting the less important topics. 

4. The brief lists of dates and names that appear with 
the "Outline for Review" include the dates and names that 
have been found by various investigations to be the most 
important in connection with the several periods of Ameri- 
can history. 



YIU 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. European Beginnings of American History . . . i 

I. The Old World Background, i. — II. Life of the People 
in Europe : the Peasants, 6. — III. The Nobility, the Clergy, 
and the Kings ; the Merchants and Tradesmen, lo. — 

IV. The Development of Trade, 14. 

II. The Bold Explorers 20 

I. The Need of a Sea-Route to Asia : the Pioneer Explora- 
tions of the Italians and Portuguese, 20. — II. Christopher 
Columbus, 23. — III. Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, and 
Magellan, 26. — IV. The Spanish Conquests; Further Spanish 
Explorations, 28. — V. The French and the English Explora- 
tions; Conflict between England and Spain, 32. 

III. Founding the English Col.onies in America ... 38 

I. Difficulties and Dangers of Settlement, 38. — II. Condi- 
tions in Europe which Led to the Colonization of America, 41. — 
III. Other Conditions in Europe which Led to the Colonization 
of America, 44. — IV. English Settlements in Virginia, 46. — 

V. English Settlements in New England, 50. — VI. Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Carolinas, and Georgia, 56. — 
VII. New York and New Jersey, 60. 

IV. Peopling the American Colonies 66 

I. Important Causes of Immigration, 67. — II. Poverty a 
Cause of Immigration; Involuntary Colonization, 71. 

V. The Struggle among the Powers of Europe for North 

America 77 

I. French Explorations and Settlements, 77. — II. Differ- 
ences between English and French Policies of Colonization, 81. — ■ 
III. The Struggle between French and English, 84. — IV. The 
Spaniards in Louisiana and the Southwest; the Russians in the 
Northwest, 90. 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VI. Life, Labor, and Liberty in America on the Eve of the 

Revolution 98 

L The People and Their Occupations : Farming, 98. — 
IL Manufacturing, Shipbuilding, and Commerce; the Cities; 
Travel, 103. — IIL Differences in Government between 
Northern and Southern Colonies, 107. — IV. Likenesses in 
Government between the North and the South: in. — V. Edu- 
cation in the Colonies; Summary, 114. 

VIL Causes of the American Revolution . . . .119 
L England Begins to Control Colonial Trade, 119. — IL The 
Protests of the Colonies against Taxation without Representa- 
tion, 122. — IIL The Crisis Reached, 128. 

VIII. The War for American Independence .... 136 

I. The Beginning of the Conflict, 136. — II. The Northern 
Campaigns and the Declaration of Independence, 140. — 
III. The Middle States Campaigns and the French Alliance, 
144. — IV. The Southern Campaigns; the War on the Sea 
and in the West, 152. — V. The Treaty of Peace; Reasons for 
the Success of the American Cause, 156. 

IX. The Constitution of the United States .... 164 

I. The Articles of Confederation and the First State Consti- 
tutions, 164. — II. Government under the Confederation; the 
Constitutional Convention, 167. — III. The Constitution and 
its Adoption, 170. 

X. The First Great Political Contest 181 

I. Starting the New Government, 181. — II. Relations with 
Europe, 187. 

XL The Expansion of the United States .... 195 

1. The Party of the Farmers in Power, 195. — IL The 
Louisiana Purchase and the Exploration of the New Territory, 
200. — III. Florida; The Pacific Northwest, 206. 

XII. The Call of the Land in the Great West . . . 209 

I. The Western Country Prepared for Settlement: Routes 
across the Mountains, 209. — IL Westward to the Mississippi, 
215. — III. The Life of the People on the Frontier, 222. 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIII. Troublesome Foreign Affairs: the War of 1812 and 

Latin-American Relations 229 

I. The War in Europe Involves American Commerce, 229. 

— II. The War of 1812, 234. — III. The Spanish-American 
Republics, 240. 

XIV. Three Decades of Domestic Politics (1815-1845) . . 247 

I. The Protective Tariff, 247. — II. Political Leadership 
still Centered in the East, 251. — III. Jacksonian Democracy. 
Power of the East Contested, 254. — IV. The Whig Party, 261. 

XV. Westward to the Pacific 266 

I. Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa; American Settlements 
in Texas, 267. — 11. Texas a Republic; Its Admission to the 
Union; the Resulting War with Mexico, 271. — III. Oregon, 
California, and Utah, 277. — IV Summary of the Far Western 
Movement, 284. 

XVI. The Industrial Revolution 288 

I. The Development of Machinery for the Cotton and 
Woolen Industries, 289. — II. The Iron Industry; Farm 
Machinery, 295. — III. Improvements in Transportation; 
Canal Development, 299. — IV. The Steamboat and the Rail- 
road, 302. — V. The Electric Telegraph ; Ocean Navigation, 
307- 

XVII. Great Changes in American Life Brought about by 

THE Industrial Revolution 312 

I. Changes in Working Conditions, 312. — II. The Labor 
Movement, 318. — III. The Growth of Cities ; Foreign Trade ; 
Conditions in the South, 322. 

XVIII. The Growth of Political Democracy in the United 

States 328 

I. The Struggle for the Right to Vote, 328. — II. The 
Struggle for "Women's Rights," 335. 

XIX. The Development of Popular Education during the 

First Half of the Nineteenth Century . . 339 

I. The Development of Free Elementary Schools, 340. — 
II. High Schools and Colleges; the Education of Women, 348. 

— III. The Newspapers, 352. — IV. Magazines, Pamphlets, 
and Books, 357. 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XX. The Great Political Conflict between the North and 

THE South 364 

I. Slavery Becomes a National Problem, 365. — II. The 
Abolition Movement, 371. — III. The Compromise of 1850, 
375. — IV. The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and Its 
Consequences, 379. — V. The Political Situation on the Eve of 
the Civil War, 384. 

XXI. The Civil War 390 

I. Secession, 390. — II. Preparations for War, 395. — 
III. The Campaigns of 1861 and 1862, 398. — IV. Emancipa- 
tion, 403. — V. The War on Water, 408. — VI. The Campaigns 
of 1863, 413. — VII. The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865; the 
End of the War, 418. — VIII. The Cost of the War; Women 
and the War, 423. 

XXII. Reconstruction in the South 430 

I. Problems of Reconstruction, 430. — II. Grant as Presi- 
dent; the Rule of the "Carpet-baggers," 434. 

XXIII. The Rise of the New South 442 

I. The South in Ruins at the Close of the War, 442. — 

II. The Development of Farming and Manufacturing, 444. — 

III. The Race Problem, 452. 

XXIV. The Growth of the Far West 455 

I. The "Far West" in i860, 455. — II. New Western States 
and Territories, 458. — III. The Problem of the Public Land, 
466. 

XXV. The Triumph of Industry 472 

I. The Development of Manufacturing and Mining, 472. — 
II. The Development of Transportation, 477. — III. The 
Army of Industry : Inventors, Business Men, and Artisans, 483. 
— IV. The Results of Industrial Development, 488. 

XXVI. Immigration 496 

I. The Early Sources of Immigration, 496. — II. Changes 
in Immigration after 1890, 500. — III. Later Efforts to Restrict^ 
Immigration, 505. 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXVII. Combinations of Capital and of Labor . . . 508 

I. Competition in Business Leads to the Formation of 
"Trusts," 508. — 11. The Results of Combinations of Capital, 
510. — III. The Great Strikes, 514. — IV. The Rise of Social- 
ism, 5x7. 

XXVIII. Parties and Political Issues 522 

I. The Republican and Democratic Administrations, 522. — 

II. The Tariff and the Income Tax, 524. — III. The Currency- 
Problem, 527. — IV. The Railroads; the Trusts; Civil Service 
Reform; the Liquor Question, 532. 

XXIX. Foreign Affairs : The United States as a World 

Power 539 

I. Controversies with Great Britain, 539. — II. Samoa and 
Hawaii ; the Growth of Foreign Trade, 542. — III. The Cuban 
Revolt Leads to the Spanish-American War, 544. — IV. The 
Results of the War; America's New Interests in the Orient, 549. 

XXX. Advances in Popular Education 557 

I. The Development of Schools and Colleges, 557. — II. The 
Growth of Vocational Education ; Educational Extension; the 
Higher Education of Women, 561. — III. Other Educational 
Agencies, 566. 

XXXI. The New Democracy 573 

I. Causes of Increasing Interest in the Machinery of Govern- 
ment, 573. — II. Civil Service Reform; the Australian Ballot; 
the Initiative and Referendum, 575. — III. The Commission 
Form of City Government; Reforms in Political Parties; the 
Direct Primary, 579. — IV. Woman Suffrage, 582. 

XXXII. The Opening of the New Century .... 588 

I. Roosevelt's Administration; the Conservation Move- 
ment, 588. — II. The Panama Canal. The Treaty of Ports- 
mouth, 592. — III. Taft's Administration and the Campaign 
of 1912, 598. — IV. Wilson's Administration, 602. 

XXXIII. The Great War 609 

I. American Neutrality, 610. — II. The Submarine Out- 
rages; the Campaign of 1916, 613. — III. War with Germany, 
617. — IV. The German Autocracy, 622. — V. A Democracy 
at War, 626. 



xiv CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Important Historical Events Arranged by Presidential 

Administration 637 

Appendix 641 

Declaration of Independence 641 

Annotated Constitution of the United States .... 645 

Reference Books 659 

Index 663 



GROUPING OF CHAPTERS FOR REVIEW 

CHAPTERS PAGES 

I-V Exploration, Settlement, and Coloni- 
zation 1-97 

VI-IX The Struggle for Independence and the 

Founding of the New Nation . . 98-180 
X-XIII Early Political and Territorial 

Growth 181-246 

XIV-XIX Development of National Democracy 

(1815-1860) 247-363 

XX-XXII The Slavery Problem, the Civil War, 

AND Reconstruction .... 364-441 
XXIII-XXX Fifty Years of Progress . . . 442-572 
XXXI-XXXIII The New Democracy and the Great 

War 573-636 

(Review outlines will be found at the close of each of these groups of chapters.) 



COLOR MAPS 

Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century 
EngHsh, French, and Spanish possessions in America, 
North America according to the Treaty of 1783 
The United States in 1805 



750 



Slave and free soil according to the Dred Scott decis 

The United States in 1861 

Continental expansion of the United States 

The United States in 1870 

The United States in 191 2 

Railway combinations, 1910 . 

American dominions in the Pacific . 

The Caribbean region .... 



on, 1857 



I 

84 
156 

201 
38s 
391 
455 
459 
465 
509 
549 
605 



BLACK AND WHITE MAPS 

PAGE 

The old trade routes from Venice and Genoa to the Far East . 16 

The known world about the time of Prince Henry the Navigator . 22 

The voyages of Columbus ........ 27 

Great voyages, 1492 to 1580 34 

Land granted to the London and Plymouth companies ... 47 

Early New England settlements . . 53 

Early settlements in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware . . 56 

Early settlements in the Carolinas and Georgia .... 59 

Early settlements in New York and New Jersey .... 62 

French explorations and trading posts 78 

Fort Duquesne and vicinity 86 

European possessions in America, 1763, with British possessions 

before that date indicated 89 

The colonies and the extent of settlement on the eve of the Revolution 1 29 
Boston and vicinity . . . . . . . . . .140 

The Revolutionary War in the North 145 

Burgoyne's expedition 148 

Scene of the Revolutionary War in the South 151 

XV 



xvi OUTLINE MAPS 



The expedition of George Rogers Clark 

The extent of territory settled in 1790 

The regions explored by Lewis and Clark and by Zebulon Pike 
The Northwest Territory, showing the boundaries of the states 

that were later created from it 

The Cumberland Road, showing also the section on the western 

end that was never completed ..... 

Scene of the War of 181 2 

Texas and the territory in dispute 

Field of the campaigns in the War with Mexico 
The Oregon country and the disputed boundary 

The overland trails 

The Erie Canal, begun under the direction of Governor DeWitt 

CHnton in 181 7, and completed in 1875 

The Missouri Compromise 

The Kansas- Nebraska territory opened to slavery in 1854 
Field of many of the battles of the war in the East 

The war in the West 

The blockade of the southern coast to cut off trade between 

Europe and the South 

Sherman's march to the sea . . . . • . 

Cotton regions of the United States 

The percentage of negroes in the total population of each state of 

the United States 

Railroads of the United States in i860 

Iron deposits of the United States 

Coal deposits of the United States 

Distribution of manufacturing in the United States (annual value) 

Railroads of the United States in 191 8 

Transportation routes, telegraph lines and cables of the world 

The westward movement of the center of population 

Percentage of foreign-born white people and native white people of 

foreign or mixed parentage combined in the total population 503 

Federal reserve districts 531 

Wet and dry territorial map of the United States, April, 1918 . 535 

The West Indies 546 

The Orient and the Philippines 

Suffrage map of the United States 

National forests, 191 8 

The principal trade routes through the Panama Canal . 
The Panama Canal Zone, the canal, and the railroad . 



THE HISTORY OF 
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



THE HISTORY OF THE 
AMERICAN PEOPLE 

CHAPTER I 

EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 

The United States is one of the youngest nations of the 
earth. Centuries before the Declaration of Independence, 
there were in Europe, Asia, and northern Africa many 
powerful countries in which dwelt kings, nobles, priests, 
teachers, merchants, skilled workmen, and peasants. Our 
sister republic of the Orient, China, had been a civilized 
nation for thousands of years when the old Liberty Bell at 
Philadelphia rang out the tidings of the new America on 
July 4, 1776. 

I. The Old World Background 

The United States is the heir of all the ages. We are in- 
debted to the most ancient peoples, the Egyptians, Hebrews, 
Arabs, Greeks, and Romans, who studied the world and human 
life and recorded their ideas in many books. They did not 
invent the typewriter or the telephone ; but they produced 
great works of art, built up long-enduring systems of law 
and government, created the science of mathematics, and 
went deeply into mechanics and navigation. They wrote 
learned works and mastered many of the mysteries of 
nature. To them we owe our religious faith and much of 
our wisdom. 



THE HISTORY OF THL AMERICAN PEOPLE 



In the middle and later ages, the Christian religion was 
spread by Catholic missionaries among the barbarians of 
northern Europe even to the borders of Iceland ; the great 
states of Spain, France, and England were built up out of 
warring principalities ; universities were founded ; and the 
light of science, which went out after the fall of Rome, was 




The Canter- 
Men and women of Chaucer's time, less than one 

kindled once more. The distant past was linked to an age 
which saw the discovery of the New World. 

The very language spoken by the men who sailed the 
ships which Columbus commanded had come down from 
the language of the ancient Romans. The language of 
the American people, the language in which this book is 
written, had its origin hundreds of years before any 
English explorers set foot on this continent. Many a good 
book and story had been written in it. Some of the 
theories which we now hold about government, the right 
to vote, the ownership of property, education, labor and 
capital, were formed long before America was discovered. 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 



3 



Most of the ideas which we think new and modern had 
already been debated in Europe at a time when this coun- 
try was only a hunting ground for Indian tribes. It was 
the people of Europe, with religious faith, notions of gov- 
ernment, and habits of Hfe already formed who founded 
the United States. 




Fro7n a Painting by R. A. Stolhard 



BURY Pilgrims 

hundred years before the discovery of America. 



America would have been discovered had there been no 
Columbus ; but there could have been no United States 
had it not been for the tens of thousands of peasants, 
artisans, merchants, sailors, and adventurers — common 
men and women — who braved the dangers of long 
ocean voyages, cut down the. forests, cleared the land, 
built the towns, drove back the Indians, and pushed 
the line of peaceful homesteads across the American 
continent until it touched the Pacific Ocean. Our first 
thought should be, therefore, about the sorts and con- 
ditions of men and women who first settled in the New 
World. 



4 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

"Why the American Explorers and Colonists Came from 
Western Europe. — If we look at the map of Europe at 
the opening of the sixteenth century, we see many things 
that help us in finding out about the beginnings of American 
history. We discover at a glance why it was that the rival 
nations which fought to own the New World were, neces- 
sarily, Spain, France, and England. They had once been 
divided, like Germany and Italy, into duchies, kingdoms, 
and principalities ; but at last the people in each of them — 
as the solid color of the map shows — had been united 
under one ruler, and were at peace among themselves. 
Fighting men had to seek adventure away from home. 
Trade flourished and merchants looked abroad for new 
worlds to win. All three countries likewise had long coast 
lines, which induced many of their inhabitants to undertake 
shipping, trading, and sea-roving for a livelihood. 

These countries were moreover far away from the sea- 
ports on the eastern Mediterranean through which came 
the silks, spices, precious stones, and other valuable articles 
of trade. Accordingly they had to pay heavy tribute to the 
Italian merchants who brought Asiatic goods to western 
Europe, and they were very anxious to open up direct 
trade with the East. Portugal was in a similar position, but 
her territory was small and she fell under Spanish dominion 
in the sixteenth century. Therefore she was not an im- 
portant factor in the actual settlement of the New World, 
although her sailors were among the bravest explorers and 
founded Brazil. 

Conditions in Middle Europe in the Sixteenth Century. 
— As we move eastward along the map we find very dif- 
ferent conditions. Instead of the united Germany of our 
time, whose ships before the Great War plowed every sea, 
and whose busy merchants went into every corner of the 
earth, we see a country divided into hundreds of petty 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 5 

states. They were all united, it is true, under what was 
known as the Holy Roman Empire, but the power of the 
emperor was very slight and the rulers of the little states 
were, for practical purposes, independent. They were 
frequently at war with one another and often they secured 
foreign aid in wars upon their own neighbors. Owing to 
these petty conflicts trade could not flourish and the energies 
of the people were consumed in civil strife. 

Between Germany and Russia stretched the territory- 
of Poland, which was destined, long afterward, to be 
divided among Prussia, Russia, and Austria, and to dis- 
appear from the map altogether. Russia then faced east- 
ward rather than toward Europe ; and about as little was 
known in England of the life of the Russian people as 
was known of the East Indies and China. The Rus- 
sians had little to sell to western Europe except timber 
and furs, and there was not much traffic between the 
two sections. To the southeast, from the Black Sea to 
the Adriatic, lay the vast dominion of the Sultan of 
Turkey, who had no part in European civiHzation. 

The Smaller European Countries. — Far to the north 
there were the people of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, 
who were united under one monarch. They had not yet 
taken much part in Mediterranean commerce, although 
there were among them many seafaring men. It is true 
that the Swedes later set up trading posts on the banks 
of the Delaware River, after the other countries had shown 
the way to the New World, but these tiny colonies were 
soon lost. The Dutch, at the opening of the sixteenth 
century, were subjects of the Spanish king. It was not 
until they won their independence by heroic fighting about 
a hundred years later that they became formidable rivals of 
the other nations at sea. 

Far to the south on the Mediterranean dwelt the Italians. 



6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Their position between Asia and western Europe and their 
long coast Hnes invited them to embark on voyages. If 
anyone is surprised that Italy furnished Columbus to Spain 
and yet was unable to accomplish anything herself in the 
New World, a glance at the map explains it all. Italy 
at the opening of the sixteenth century was broken up into 
tiny independent states and cities. Italy was a name, not 
a nation. 

II. Life of the People in Europe : the Peasants 

Such were the political conditions of Europe, which 
helped to determine what nations were to struggle for the 
possession of the New World. We must study also the 
social conditions of Europe to find out what kinds of men 
and women were ready to settle in America. 

The Peasants. — The first important fact is that the 
great majority of the people of all the European countries 
were peasants, engaged in farming. They were not like 
the American farmers who so commonly own land or rent 
it and are free to move about over the country at will. 
Very few peasants owned the fields in which they worked, 
and they gained little beyond a scanty living, even when 
they were freemen tilling their own land. 

Most of the peasants were serfs or half-slaves bound 
to the soil. Nearly all land was owned by great landlords 
— dukes, earls, barons, bishops, and other dignitaries — and 
the peasants merely had the right to cultivate certain little 
plots in return for payments made to their landlords in labor, 
produce, and money. A serf could not leave the estate 
on which he was born ; he could not have his grain ground 
anywhere except at his lord's mill ; he could not marry 
without the lord's consent. When he died, the lord took 
a part of his little flock or herd from his family as a sort of 
inheritance tax. 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 7 



Plowing 



^ ^^,^— Y_^ 


/ 1 1/ ^ ^^k'^^'^'Z^^^— -^jfe\ 


fe^^Jk^^S^ 




Sowing 




From Prothero's English Farming, Past and Present 

Reaping 

The peasants gained little beyond a scanty living, even when they were freemen, tilling 

their own land. 



8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

In England, however, by the opening of the sixteenth 
century serfdom had almost disappeared ; that is, the 
peasants had become simply renters of farm lands, " agri- 
cultural laborers," as they were called in that country. 
They were not much better off than the serfs on the conti- 
nent, for their rents were high and only a few of them could 
ever expect to own plots of land outright. The landlord 
looked upon them as inferior creatures, and, whenever he 
went by, they had to take off their hats to him. 

Those peasants who left their little villages and were 
caught wandering about in the towns without any money 
or occupation were liable to be arrested as " sturdy beggars," 
branded ^ with hot irons, and sent back to the places they 
had left. 

How the Peasants Lived. — The European peasants did 
not live in farmhouses scattered about over the country as 
do the farmers in the United States to-day. They dwelt 
huddled up together in little villages, often under the 
frowning walls of a great castle where their lord lived. 
Their houses were almost as crude as the huts of some of 
the North American Indians. The roofs were made of 
thatched straw and, more often than not, leaked when heavy 
rains fell. The walls of the houses were of wood and 
plaster and sometimes of stone. The floors were of dirt or, 
occasionally, stone flagging. There were no glass windows 
except in the houses of the well-to-do. Slits in the walls 
of the serf's cottage, covered with thin skins, let in enough 
light to enable the housewife to do her daily tasks. The 
work of the women was by no means all indoors, for they 
toiled in the fields with the men from early dawn till dusk, 
and made " regular hands " at harvest time. 

The Peasantry Not Educated. — As for education, the 

^ An interesting story of the life of the English common people in those old 
days is told in Mark Twain's " The Prince and the Pauper." 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 9 

peasants had none. They could not read or write, and 
it was an especially gifted one who could solve the easiest 
problem in arithmetic. It was customary for each land- 
lord to have a bailiff who kept the books of his es- 
tate. The idea that the peasant or his wife and children 
had minds of their own which were worth training, or 
that they had intelligence enough to do anything except the 
simplest farm tasks, had not entered the heads of the kings 
or the nobles or even of the peasants themselves. 

There were, of course, no newspapers. Printed books 
were just beginning to be circulated in small numbers, so 
it was a rare village which had a book of any kind or even 
a manuscript. 

The peasants had little knowledge of the world. They 
were, no doubt, vaguely aware that there were other 
countries, for often one or two members of the village had 
been abroad fighting, and had learned something about 
foreign peoples. Strange rumors and gossip concerning dis- 
tant parts of the south were picked up from strolling players 
and peddlers and at the market town, a few miles away, 
where the peasant bought salt, iron tools, and simple articles 
from traveling merchants. 

The Peasants Had No Part in the Government. — The 
peasants and serfs paid taxes, and fought in battles 
sometimes, but they rarely had any share in the govern- 
ment. The countries of Europe were almost all ruled by 
kings and princes who laid taxes, made laws, declared war, 
and concluded peace at their own will. To them the idea 
that the mass of the people laboring in the fields should 
have any voice in saying how much money they should grant 
to the government, or when war should be declared, was 
absurd. The chief duties of the peasants were to pay taxes, 
to work on the king's highways, and to rear stalwart sons for 
the king's army. 



lO 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



III. The Nobility, the Clergy, and the Kings ; the 
Merchants and Tradesmen 

The Nobility; a Separate Caste. — Two thirds or more of 
the land which the peasants and serfs tilled was owned 














:-^i 0--^^^&— ■ 




The Feudal Castle of a Great Lord 

Under the frowning walls of the castle the peasants dwelt huddled up together in little 

villages. 

by nobles, great and small, who formed a distinct class 
known as the nobility. The nobles differed greatly 
among themselves. Some owned small estates from which 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY ii 

they could scarcely wring enough to Hve in idleness. Others 
held vast domains composed of hundreds of villages and 
sometimes containing one or more large towns. They often 
fought among themselves for more land, and for a long time 
they furnished practically all of the fighting men for the 
kings when the latter were at war. From the nobles the 
kings drew their chief advisers and their army officers. 

The nobles everywhere were proud of their families, and 
they looked down upon the merchants and the peasants. 
It was hard to "* break into " the nobility. Rank was a mat- 
ter of birth, not of labor or riches or brave deeds, though 
sometimes a king would make a nobleman out of a com- 
moner because the latter had rendered some important 
service or in some other way had gained royal favor. 

The Clergy. — Scarcely less rich and powerful than the 
nobility was the class composed of the clergy. At the 
opening of the sixteenth century, all western Europe was 
Catholic and under one head of the Church, the Pope 
at Rome. The Church was a religious or clerical govern- 
ment within the civil government. All western Chris- 
tendom was divided into districts presided over by arch- 
bishops and bishops owing allegiance to the Pope at Rome. 
Bishoprics were laid out into parishes, and the religious life 
of each parish was committed to the care of a priest selected, 
as a rule, by the lord of the village, perhaps with the con- 
sent of the bishop. Every country was dotted over with 
monasteries, where dwelt the monks of the various orders — 
Benedictines, Carthusians, Franciscans, and others. There 
were also many convents, to which women turned from the 
cares and dangers of the world. 

The Power of the Clergy. — In each country the thou- 
sands of priests, monks, bishops, archbishops, and other 
religious persons, constituted a distinct class, like the no- 
bility. As the clergy, they were, of course, separated from 



12 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



other people on account of the religious vows which they 
had taken, and of their consecration to religious labors. 
All were bound into one great brotherhood of the faithful 
by spiritual ties. 

Furthermore, the clergy were as a class extremely wealthy. 
The village priest was often poor, but the clergy as a whole 
possessed great estates, and the bishops and archbishops 
sometimes ruled domains as extensive as kingdoms, kept 
armies, and controlled the government. It is safe to say 
that nearly a third of the farming lands of England, 

France, and Spain be- 
longed to the clergy. 
In addition to the rents 
and dues which they 
gathered from the peas- 
ants just like other land- 
lords, they collected 
tithes 1 and fees of many 
kinds. • 

The Clergy the Only 
Educated Class. — There 
were other reasons, in 
addition to their wealth 
and spiritual power, for 
the deep influence of the 
clergy over the people. 
Practically all learning, 
religious as well as secu- 
lar, was in their control. 
They wrote the books, taught in the schools, tutored 
princes and sons of noblemen, and did a great deal of 




A Monk Illuminating a Book 
The clergy was the only educated class. 



1 It was an ancient custom that a certain portion of the produce of each com- 
munity should go to the support of the church. This portion, supposed to be 
about one tenth, was known as the "tithe." 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 



13 



the legal work now intrusted to lawyers. The universities 
were all under clerical control, and were, in fact, con- 
ducted principally for the purpose of educating clergymen 
— for the nobles were often quite as ignorant of literature 
and science as the peasants who tilled their fields. 

The Power of the Kings. — At the opening of the six- 
teenth century in England, France, Spain, and Portugal 
the government was in the hands of the kings. England 
had, it is true, a Parliament composed of a House of Lords 
and a House of Commons, the latter made up of represent- 
atives chosen by the smaller landlords of the counties and 
the burgesses or citizens of the towns. As a matter of fact, 
however, the EngHsh sovereign collected taxes, issued 
decrees, punished subjects, and declared war about as he 
pleased. If the Parliaihent objected seriously to the king's 
doings, he could easily " pack " it with servile favorites, 
who would do his bidding. In France, also, there was a 
shadow of a parliament; but it had even less power than 
the English legislature and early in the seventeenth century 
it disappeared altogether. In Spain and Portugal the 
power of the king was equally great. 

Tyrannical as the king sometimes was, he aided in the 
progress of his country in many ways. He kept peace 
within his kingdom, for one thing, by suppressing the great 
barons and nobles who were often not much better than 
brigands, preying on the travelers and merchants who 
passed through their domains. The king built great high- 
ways, developed uniform laws in all parts of his country, and 
created a single system of coinage. He maintained good 
order so that merchants and adventurers might travel in 
safety from one end of his realm to the other. He often 
furnished money for voyages of discovery and exploration. 

The Merchants and Tradesmen. — In this way the king 
helped the growth of a new and important class in society, 



14 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the merchants and tradesmen who, from the sixteenth 
century onward, were destined to play a great part in 
the history of the world. They took the leadership in 
encouraging handicrafts at home and bringing goods from 
foreign lands. Thus there came to be in every country 
of western Europe a group of men distinct from the clergy, 
the nobility, and the peasants — a group which owned not 
land and castles and monasteries, but ships and stocks of 
goods and money. Being constantly engaged in traveling 
or bartering with peoples of other countries, the " merchant 
adventurers," as they were sometimes called, were better 
acquainted with the world than the other classes. They 
were prepared for almost any changes that meant an in- 
crease in business. 

The Artisans. — In the towns wereto be found skilled iron 
workers, weavers, dyers, and other craftsmen engaged in 
making articles to sell. The artisans of each craft were 
organized into unions or ** gilds," and exercised strict con- 
trol over their respective industries. 



IV. The Development of Trade 

The most desirable luxuries, such as spices, rugs, silks, 
porcelains, and perfumes, came from far away — from 
Persia, India, China, and other distant lands. These 
regions had been known to the Greeks and Romans, who 
carried on considerable trade with them; and even in the 
Middle Ages, when the barbarians overran the former Ro- 
man Empire, all that had been known of the Far East was 
not wholly forgotten. During the Crusades made by 
Christian warriors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
to rescue the tomb of the Sat^ior from the hands of the 
Mohammedans, soldiers and travelers went as far east as 
Egypt and Syria. 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 15 

Marco Polo. — Toward the end of the thirteenth century, 
two famous Venetian merchants, the Polo brothers, jour- 
neyed so far into China that they reached Pekin, and were 
welcomed by the Emperor of the Mongols. Later the son 
of one of the merchants, Marco Polo, set out for China 
and stayed there twelve years, visiting different places and 
becoming acquainted with the habits and trade of the 
Chinese. 

When Marco Polo returned to Venice, in 1295, bringing 
diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, he excited interest among 
other adventurous persons. Polo not only boasted among 
his friends of the things he had seen, but he wrote a book 
in which he described at length his wonderful experi- 
ences in that mysterious land. In this book he told of 
the magnificent palace of the emperor, with its halls of gold 
and silver, its jeweled panels, and its gorgeous tapestries. 
He described the fine dress worn at the royal court — the 
robes of silk and beaten gold and girdles set with precious 
stones. Polo spread about the idea that riches fairly grew 
on trees in the Orient. Naturally, credulous people wanted 
to go and pick them. 

Carrying Eastern Goods to Western Europe. — After Polo*s 
time the trade of Europe with the Far East increased 
steadily. Silks, spices, and other rich stuffs were brought 
along several overland routes from China, India, and Persia 
to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and thence 
they were carried principally to the Italian cities of 
Venice and Genoa. From these ports they were taken by 
various ways, usually overland, until they reached distant 
points like London, Paris, and Antwerp. In Germany there 
was a series of trading centers, Cologne, Bremen, and Lii- 
beck, largely interested in this traffic. Sometimes Italian 
merchants from Genoa or Venice would venture to send a 
shipload of the precious goods out through the gateway of 



i6 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the Mediterranean at Gibraltar and up along the Atlantic 
coast as far as Bruges (in what is now Belgium), and even 
to London. 

Trade among the Western Nations. — In addition to this 
eastern traffic, there was a growing trade among the 
nations of Europe during the Middle Ages. Great bales 
of wool were sent from England to France to be woven 
into fine cloth. In the little towns hke London, Paris, 



Venice 




A F R I C 



Wm8.Eng.Co..N.T. 



The Old Trade Routes from Venice and Genoa to the Far East 



Bristol, Bruges, and Antwerp, hand manufactories began to 
flourish. Even the peasants in the country had to have salt 
and some iron, and merchants had early begun to travel 
about in wagons with these supplies. It was a general 
practice to have markets or fairs in the principal towns, to 
which merchants and peasants from the outlying districts 
would go to trade. The county fair, so famous in the 
United States, is simply a relic of an ancient institution 
which was once a real service to the people. 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 17 

The Rigid Separation of Classes in Europe. — All the 
various classes which have just been described — nobles, 
clergy, peasants, merchants, and artisans — were kept 
quite separate in the Europe of Columbus' day. The son 
of a peasant was almost certain to be a peasant, the son of a 
merchant a merchant, the son of a nobleman a nobleman. 
The daughters, at the dictates of their overlords or parents, 
always married in the class to which they belonged. Few 
of them expected to rise out of the group in which they 
were born. Only the clergy came from the other classes. 
Often a clever peasant boy escaped from servitude in the 
fields and entered the Church, and sometimes the son of a 
nobleman took up the religious life. 

Generally speaking, there was no opportunity for the poor 
person to leave the class to which he was born. This state 
of affairs was regarded by all as perfectly " natural,'' just 
as natural as for boys and girls to go to school in our 
time. 

Such was the Old World out of which were to come the 
people to settle America. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Be sure that you understand what years are 
meant when we speak of the ''fifteenth century," the 
^'sixteenth century," etc.^ In what centuries were the 
following dates: 1215, 1400, 1492, 1519, 1601, 1776? 
2. Why should we know something about the history of 
Europe in order to understand the history of our own 
country ? 3. What countries in western Europe at the 
close of the sixteenth century had about the same bound- 
aries that they have to-day .? 4. What European coun- 
tries, now united, were at that time divided into smaller 
kingdoms and principalities ^ 5. Give as many reasons 



14th century 1 15th century I i6th century 1 17th century 
1301 — 1400 I 1401 — 1500 I 1501 — 1600 J 1601 — 1700 



C 



1 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

as you can explaining why England, France, and Spain 
were the principal European countries to colonize the 
New World. 

II. I. Who were the peasants of Europe.? 2. How 
did the European peasants in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries differ from the American farmer of to-day .? 

III. I. How did the nobles differ from the peasants ? 
How did the nobles differ among themselves .? 2. How 
did a person usually become a member of the nobility ? 
3. How did the clergy differ from the peasants and from 
the nobility ? 4. How did the clergy become so wealthy .? 
5. How did the power of the kings in the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries differ from the power of the rulers to- 
day in most European countries .? 6. How did England 
differ from most of the other European countries even then 
in its form of government ? 7. In what good ways did the 
European kings sometimes use their power ? 8. What new 
social class grew up in Europe at about the time of the dis- 
covery of America .? 9. How did this class differ from the 
peasants and the nobles I 10. What is meant by the word 
"artisan" ? 

IV. I. Who was Marco Polo and what did he do that 
his name should be so long remembered ? 2. Locate on 
the map the principal cities that were important as centers 
of trade and commerce just before the discovery of America. 

Review. What are the disadvantages of living in a 
country where the classes are rigidly separated as they 
were in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries .? 

^ Problems for Further Study 

I. Draw upon the blackboard a line twenty inches long like 
the following shorter line. Mark upon it at the appropriate 
points the following events : 

Present 2000 
1000 A.D. time. A.D. 



Magna Carta, 1215 
Discovery of America, 1492 



EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 19 

Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1620 
Declaration of Independence, 1776 
Monroe Doctrine, 1823 
Assassination of Lincoln, 1865 
Spanish-American War, 1898 

2. Our people pride themselves on the fact that there is no rigid 
separation of social classes in this country as there has been and 
still is in many of the European countries. Many of our greatest 
men have come from what would be considered in Europe one of 
the lower social classes. Lincoln was one of these. What others 
can you name ? Why is it well for a country to prevent classes 
from becoming rigidly separated ? Can you think of any way in 
which our public schools prevent this ? 

3. Look up additional facts about Marco Polo and be ready to 
give to the class a clear account of his journeys and adventures. 

See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxi; 
Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 10-23.^ 

^ The references given for the " Problems " in this and the following chapters 
are only suggestive. Pupils should be encouraged to consult other books that 
they may find in the school library or the public library, or that they may have 
at home. 



CHAPTER II 
THE BOLD EXPLORERS 

The Europe which we have just described was, in the main, 
an unchanging Europe. The nobles, clergy, artisans, and 
peasants were content to go about their daily occupations 
just as their predecessors had done for generations. 

I. The Need of a Sea-Route to Asia: The Pioneer 
Explorations of the Italians and Portuguese 

The Italians. — Nevertheless, there were signs of change in 
Columbus' day. The trade with the East continued to 
thrive, and many merchants — especially the Italian 
"middlemen" — grew rich out of the traffic in spices, silks, 
and other goods brought from India and China. The mer- 
chants of England, France, and Spain, seeing the Italian 
traders reap such a harvest of profits, began to wonder 
whether they could not find some way to get directly into 
touch with Persia, the Indies, and China. They became 
very much excited about a new route to the Indies 
when in 1453 Constantinople, which hitherto had been in 
Christian hands, was captured by the Turks. After that 
great event the course of trade through the eastern Med- 
iterranean, though by no means blocked, was disturbed and 
hampered. 

It was not only the merchants of western Europe who 
were aroused about paying large profits to middlemen. 
The Italian traders were equallv unhappy when they 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS « 21 

thought of the huge tribute which they paid to the Mohafm- 
medan business men at the seaports of the eastern Mediter- 
ranean. There was only one solution of the problem — a 
new route to the Far East whence came the goods they all 
sought. 

The Italians had not been slow to realize this. Nearly 
two hundred years before Columbus made his first voyage 
across the Atlantic, courageous Italian navigators had 
sailed out through the straits of Gibraltar on direct voy- 
ages to London and Bruges. Their success in braving 
the terrors of the high seas encouraged them, and in a little 
while they went far southward along the coast of Africa 
in search of a way around to the Indies. 

The Portuguese Navigators. Prince Henry, — Since these 
adventurers often stopped at Lisbon, the Portuguese began 
to take interest in the stirring hunt for new trade routes. 
Indeed one may almost say that the Portuguese were 
the pioneers in the work of uncovering the unknown con- 
tinents of the. New World and the distant lands of the Far 
East. Years before Columbus was born, the son of the 
King of Portugal, Prince Henry, became interested in ships 
and sailors and maps, and he did so much to encourage 
explorers to search the high seas that he won for himself the 
name of Prince Henry the Navigator. 

It took a great deal of money to build ships, and he sup- 
plied this money out of his own purse. As it required a 
knowledge of navigation to undertake long voyages on un- 
charted seas far from the coast. Prince Henry set up a school 
for seamen, where books, charts, and maps were collected 
and where expert seamen were trained to wrestle with the 
dangers of the deep, and to sail their ships according to the 
best plans of the time. When he died in 1460, Prince Henry 
left behind a large group of able sailors who kept up the 
good work he had so nobly begun. 



22 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



Old Superstitions about the Sea.. — One of the most difficult 
of the many tasks confronting the brave spirits who set 
out on explorations was to drive out of the minds of the 
common sailors all sorts of absurd notions about the ter- 
rors of the ocean. Even the wisest of navigators knew little 
about the high seas, and the ignorance of the seamen passes 




The Known World at about the Time of Prince Henry, the Navigator 

belief. There were rumors- afloat to the effect that the dis- 
tant oceans were peopled with horrible monsters big enough 
to swallow a ship at one gulp ; that the sea to the southward 
was boiling hot ; that no one could pass through the scalding 
waters alive; and that the west coast of Africa was a barren 
waste where sure death awaited any luckless shipwrecked 
seamen. 

Although the more learned navigators believed that the 
earth was round, the rank and file stoutly declared that it 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 23 

was flat, and that whoever ventured far out at sea was in 
danger of faUing off the edge into a bottomless black abyss. 
It was only by gradually extending their voyages that the 
sailors found these ideas to be utterly false. 

Good Work of the Portuguese Sailors. — Many of these 
first voyages were undertaken by the Portuguese. By the 
middle of the fourteenth century they had discovered the 
Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores, and had ventured 
down along the coast of Africa until they reached the head- 
lands, which they named Cape Verde (the Green Cape). 

At length one of the ablest of this brave school of Por- 
tuguese seamen, Bartholomew Diaz,-- sailed all the way 
down the west coast of Africa and, in 1487, rounded the 
cape. He was so pleased with the success of his voyage 
that he gave to the southern point of Africa the name of 
the "Cape of Good Hope," the name it still bears. When 
he returned from his long journey of thirteen thousand 
miles and reported that he had seen no sea monsters, and 
that the boiling ocean story was a myth, other sailors grew 
bolder. 

II. Christopher Columbus 

A Daring Plan. — The wonderful exploits of the Por- 
tuguese sailors stirred the soul of an Italian seaman from 
Genoa, who was destined to win everlasting fame — Christo- 
pher Columbus. As a lad of fourteen years he had begun a 
wandering life at sea, and in the course of his adventures 
he drifted to Portugal. This was a turning point in his 
career. No doubt he learned much from the navigators 
of Lisbon, and it is thought that he joined in some of the 
voyages down the African coast. At all events, we know 
that in 1473 he married the daughter of a Portuguese sailor 
who had gathered a store of maps and charts. This 
precious collection later fell to Columbus. 



24 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Columbus also had a copy of Marco Polo's book of travels, 
and he read therein not merely of the wonderful riches of 
the East, but also of a *^ great ocean '' beyond the domin- 
ions of the Chinese emperor. By much deep study he 
figured it out that the world was round, not flat as most 
people thought, and that this " great ocean " was a part of 
the Atlantic.^ Columbus then came to the conclusion that 
if he sailed some four thousand miles westward — a voyage 
of five or six weeks — he could reach Zipango, or Japan, 
which lay ofF the coast of China. 

Ferdinand and Isabella Aid Columbus. — Hard-headed 
business men, although they were anxious to find a new 
route, were not willing to risk any money on such an un- 
certain venture. On this account, Columbus was a long 
time in securing money for his expedition. He appealed 
to the King of Portugal, but in vain. He then turned to 
the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. The 
Queen became deeply interested because she thought she 
saw an opportunity to bring the heathen of the East into 
the fold of the Catholic Church. So Columbus, mainly 
through her aid, was able to secure the money, men, and 
ships necessary to make the daring experiment. He chose 
three ships small enough to permit hirn to skirt along the 
shores and explore the rivers of the mysterious lands which 
he expected to visit. In August, 1492, all was ready and 
Columbus sailed out of the harbor of Palos in Spain for 
the fateful voyage on the " Sea of Darkness.'' 

Columbus Crosses the Atlantic. — The story of what hap- 
pened is well known — how Columbus' men grew fright- 
ened as they sailed on day after day across the trackless 
ocean ; how some of them begged him to turn back ; and 
how he kept his faith and courage when every one else 

* Of course, it should be said that Greek scholars centuries before Columbus 
had come to the conclusion that the earth was round, not flat. 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 



25 



had given up hope. A picture of the contest between 
despair and determination to win, which occurred on board 
the captain's ship, is drawn by an American poet, Joaquin 
Miller, in these lines : 

*'My men grow mutinous day by day; 
My men grow ghastly wan and weak." 
The stout mate thought of home; a spray 
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. 
"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say. 
If we sight naught but seas at dawn .?" 
"Why, you shall say at break of day, 
' Sail on ! Sail on ! Sail on ! and on!'*' 




From an engraving by C. M. McRae 

Columbus in Sight of Land 



Columbus Lands at San Salvador (October 12, 1492). — On 
they sailed until at length their weary watching was 
rewarded, on October 12, with the sight of a strange 
shore — one of the Bahama Islands. Ferdinand Columbus, 



26 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the son of the great admiral, in the Life of his father wrote 
of their landing : 

The whole company kneeled on the shore and kissed the ground 
for joy, returning thanks for the great mercy they had experienced 
during the long voyage through seas hitherto unpassed and their 
now happy discovery of an unknown land. 

Columbus named the island San Salvador (Holy Savior) 
and declared it to be territory of the King of Spain. Then 
for several weeks he sailed about among the islands of that 
region, discovering, among others, Haiti and Cuba ; but he 
returned home without finding the treasures of gold and 
silver and precious stones or the fabled cities of the East for 
which he was searching. A second voyage was equally dis- 
appointing. 

III. Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, and Magellan 

Vasco da Gama Reaches India by Sea (1497). — Bit- 
terness was added to Columbus' cup when a Portuguese 
sailor, Vasco da Gama, in 1497 sailed directly around the 
Cape of Good Hope, crossed the Indian Ocean to Calicut 
(whence the term " calico ") on the west coast of India, and 
brought back home a shipload of the spices, silks, and other 
goods which were so much desired in Europe. When the 
voyagers returned, in 1499, the King of Portugal wrote 
exultantly to the king and queen of Spain, boasting of Da 
Gama's triumph. 

The news of this exploit, that the longed-for water route 
to India was opened at last, stirred Spain more than ever. 
Columbus made two more voyages across the Atlantic 
searching for the golden Indies, but without results. He 
returned home, broken and heartsick, and in 1506 he died 
in poverty, not knowing that he had discovered a new world. 

Amerigo Vespucci Writes of the New World. — LJn- 
daunted by the failure of Columbus to find a direct route to 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 



27 



the East, the Spaniards continued the search. One of 
these explorers was an ItaUan from Florence, Amerigo 
Vespucci. He sailed along the eastern shores of what is now 
South America, from the shoulder half-way to the southern 
tip. After his return from this expedition (1504) Amerigo 
wrote to friends in Italy : " We have found what may 




The Voyages of Columbus 

be called a new world." Navigators then came to the con- 
clusion that Columbus had not reached Asia at all, but the 
coasts of a wide continent which barred the way to India. 
It was in honor of this Italian sailor in the employ of the 
King of Spain that the name " America " was given to 
the new lands. 

Balboa Discovers the Pacific. — The Spanish soon 
began to open up the continent. The coast of the 
central region was explored as early as 1508 by Pinzon, 
who had been with Columbus on the first voyage. Five 
years later, in 1513, Balboa pushed through the swamps 
and jungles of the Isthmus, climbed the mountains to the 



28 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

westward, and, on September 25, beheld the gleaming waters 
of the Pacific. 

Magellan's Ships Circumnavigate the Globe (1519- 
1522). — Two lines of enterprise now began. Some adven- 
turers sought a way around the continent to the Indies, 
and others explored the new continent itself. In the 
former group the Portuguese sailor, Magellan, takes highest 
rank, for it was he who first sailed directly to the Pacific 
Ocean by crossing the Atlantic. 

In 1 5 19 this energetic captain, in the service of the king 
of Spain, set out for the New World. He skirted the coast 
of South America, pushed through the straits at the southern 
end which now bear his name, and then spread his sails 
on the broad Pacific, little dreaming what vast stretches of 
water lay between America and the Indies. He sailed 
bravely on, week after week, outrivaling the daring and 
endurance of Columbus on his first voyage. After a desperate 
struggle with starvation and thirst Magellan reached the 
islands now known as the Philippines, where he was killed 
in a fight with the natives. 

Magellan's men sailed from there in the good ship 
Victoria, crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of 
Good Hope, and on September 6, 1522, rode into the harbor 
at Lisbon. Thus, in the most memorable voyage in the 
annals of the sea, the globe was encircled. 

IV. The Spanish Conquests ; Further Spanish 
Explorations 

Mexico. Its Conquest by Cortes. — About the time of 
Magellan's voyage, Cortes, a Spanish soldier, with a small 
band of men, discovered the empire of Mexico. The Mexi- 
can natives tilled the fields and raised bountiful crops ; they 
had many fine highways, along which a large domestic trade 
flowed ; they had cities ; they had made important begin- 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 



29 



nings in painting pictures and writing books ; and the king and 
the nobles who ruled over the people had amassed great quan- 
tities of gold and silver and precious stones. Here was booty 
for the Spaniards. They fell upon the Mexicans with fire and 
sword, captured their capital, Mexico City, in 1521, and in 
a little while were in possession of a mighty domain, thickly 
settled, and rich in the precious minerals. 

Soon Christian missionaries from Spain went over to 
Mexico and converted the people to the Catholic faith. 
Monasteries or missions were built in all parts of the coun- 




The Palace of Cortes at Cuernavaca, Mexico 



try; a Spanish government was set up; and thus a "New 
Spain," as it was called, was established — a Spain very 
much like the old in religion, government, and the customs 
of the people. 

The strange empire thus brought under the rule of Spain 
is described in many entertaining letters written by the 
conqueror, Cortes, to his sovereign at home. One of these 
he devoted entirely to an account of the marvelous city of 
Mexico and the court life of the Mexican sovereign, Monte- 
zuma. In this dispatch he tells of the public squares and 
market places, where more than sixty thousand merchants 
were busy buying and selHng jewels of gold and silver, lead, 



30 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

brass, copper, tin, timber, precious stones, rabbits, herbs, 
medicines, foodstuffs of all kinds, honey, sugar, cotton 
thread, dyes, paints, and earthenware. He tells of temples 
and chapels where dwelt the priests of the heathen faith, 
of the palaces inhabited by the rich lords, of the wonderful 
gardens and balconies supported by marble columns, of 
the museums filled with human freaks, and of the bird houses 
where the emperor's servants had collected specimens of 
all the known species of the empire. 

Peru. Its Conquest by Pizarro. — While the Spaniards 
were busy conquering Mexico, they heard rumors of another 
great empire to the southward in Peru; and Pizarro, a 
cruel soldier, set out with fewer than two hundred men to 
find it. After a long and perilous journey, they came upon 
a country superior in many ways to Mexico, and especially 
rich in the booty which they were seeking. They speedily 
overcame the natives in battle and looted the temples, 
palaces, and even the tombs of the dead, carrying away all 
the precious metals and jewels they could find. It is es- 
timated that Cortes and Pizarro wrung at least ^7,000,000 
from the Mexicans and Peruvians as ** gifts," and took as 
much more by force. 

Explorations to the Northward. De Leon and De Soto. — 
The stories of fabulous riches won by the conquest of Mexico 
and Peru set all the other Spanish adventurers on fire with 
the hope of still greater adventures. So they turned to the 
northward, undismayed by a fruitless journey which De 
Leon had made into the Florida country as early as 1513. 
From Cuba, De Soto, one of Pizarro's old lieutenants, went 
forth with a band of horsemen and soldiers, all armed to 
the teeth and dressed in gorgeous colors, ready to overawe 
and conquer any emperors and potentates whom they might 
chance to meet. With banners flying they landed on the 
coast of Florida in 1539 looking for worlds to conquer. 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 



31 



How bitter was their disappointment ! Instead of Mexico 
cities they found miserable Indian villages. 

But having set out with grand expectations De Soto 
would not turn back. For four long years he dragged his 
dwindling band inland through jungles, forests, and swamps, 
hoping each day that the next would reveal great treasures. 
In 1 541 he reached the turbulent waters of the Mississippi, 
and yet he pressed on until death broke his will and stilled 







The Zuni Terrace 

In place of cities and treasure, such as Cortes and Pizarro had found, Coronado 
discovered only wretched Indian villages. 

his stout heart. His followers, in the night, dropped his 
body down to the bottom of the mighty river which he had 
discovered, hoping thus to conceal his death from the In- 
dians, who had been told that Christians were immortal. 

The remnants of De Soto's band, freed from the com- 
mand of their stern captain, found their way as best they 
could back to Spanish settlements. 

Coronado. — While De Soto was out on this luckless jour- 
ney, another Spanish adventurer, Coronado, was exploring 
from Mexico what is now the southwestern part of the 
United States. 



32 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

In place of cities and treasure, such as Cortes and Pizarro 
had found, he, too, discovered only wretched Indian huts 
and villages. These were not the exploits which the Spanish 
soldiers were seeking, but they gave to the King of Spain 
a claim to vast territories. 



V. The French and the English Explorations; Con- 
flict BETWEEN England and Spain 

French Explorations. Verrazano. — News of the return- 
ing Spanish galleons bringing tons of gold and silver from 
the New World was not long in reaching the ears of the 
King of France. In fact, one of his sea captains, Verrazano, 
an Italian, had been lucky enough to seize two of the treas- 
ure ships which Cortes sent home from Mexico. The French 
king, stirred by wonderful tales from New Spain, fitted out, in 
1524, an expedition for Verrazano, who explored the eastern 
coast of North America and attempted to find a northwest 
passage to the East Indies. This expedition gave France 
a claim to the northern continent. 

Cartier and Champlain. — A few years afterward Jacques 
Carrier sailed up the St. Lawrence River and took posses- 
sion of its banks in the name of the French king. For a 
long time, however, French sovereigns were too busy with 
wars on the continent and religious disputes at home to em- 
bark on regular colonization in America. It was not until 
1604 that the French planted their first permanent colony 
at Port Royal in Acadia. Four years later the great ex- 
plorer Champlain established the post of Quebec. 

Although the French, by their voyages of discovery, 
really laid the foundations of a New France in America, 
that was far from their intention at first. They, too, sought 
a route to India or another Peru to conquer; not a fertile 
land, where French peasants could have fields to till. 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 33 

When the French explorers found their way to the Far 
East blocked, they went overland westward to the regions 
around the Great Lakes, hoping that somewhere in that 
country might be discovered the cities and markets of 
China. Their hopes were not reahzed, but as we shall see 
they left their mark in the wilderness which they traversed. 

English Explorations. Johi Cabot {i4gY-8) . — England was 
the last of the great nations of western Europe to under- 
take regular voyages of exploration to the New World. It 
is true that King Henry VII sent out from Bristol John 
Cabot, an Itahan by birth, with orders to find a way west- 
ward to Zipango, or Japan, whence came much of the 
goods highly prized by Englishmen ; but nothing impor- 
tant came of the trip. Cabot did not discover the long- 
coveted passage to the East. He found, instead, the barren 
coast of Labrador, where, in 1497, he planted the English 
flag and thus gave England a shadow of a claim to the 
whole North American continent. Henry VII seems to 
have given Cabot £10 for his pains. The next year Cabot, 
sailed again and mysteriously disappeared. Henry VIII, 
the son of Henry VII, took little or no interest in explo- 
ration and discovery. 

Francis Drake. — During the reign of Henry VIITs 
daughter, the famous Queen EHzabeth, EngHsh adventure 
was renewed. By that time there had grown up in Eng- 
land a company of daring sea captains, such as Drake, 
Raleigh, Frobisher, and Gilbert, whose names became house- 
hold words wherever the English language was spoken. 
Under the leadership of these men the English navy grew, 
until at last England was prepared to challenge the rich and 
powerful kingdom of Spain, and to strike at her source of 
wealth — the Americas. 

The signal for the opening of the conflict was given in 
1577 as Francis Drake spread his sails in Plymouth for 



34 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



a voyage around the world — "to singe the Spaniard's 
beard." Though his Queen was at peace with the Spanish 
sovereign, Drake sailed down the eastern coast of South 
America and up the western coast, looting and burning the 
trading posts along the way, overhauling galleons, and fill- 
ing his own ships with bars of gold and silver. Far north he 
went along the Pacific shores until his sails were sheathed 
in ice. Then he turned back, refitted his vessels at a 




Great Voyages, 1492 to 1580 

point near the site of San Francisco, — little dreaming that 
a republic of English-speaking people would some day 
stretch to the sands before him, — and at last he set out 
toward the setting sun. Unlike poor Magellan, he was for- 
tunate enough to round the Cape of Good Hope in com- 
mand of his ships, and in November of the year 1580 
rode safely into English waters. Elizabeth apologized to 
the King of Spain for Drake's rudeness ; then knighted her 
faithful servant. 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 35 

The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. — As the news of 
the deeds of Drake and his countrymen slowly filtered home 
to Spain, the wrath of the king waxed high. There seemed 
to be no end to the story of ships sunk, treasure carried 
off, towns sacked, and settlements destroyed. Proud of 
his empire, on which the sun never set, and zealous in 
the support of the Catholic faith, the Spanish king at last 
determined to bear no longer the insults offered by English- 
men — and Protestants. The challenge had been made 
on the sea, and on the sea he accepted it. 

Fitting up a huge Armada, — the mightiest fleet of battle- 
ships that had ever swept the ocean, — the Spaniards rode 
forth to shatter the growing power of England. Elizabeth's 
sailors were ready. With a swiftness that dazed experienced 
Spanish captains, they fell upon the " Invincible Armada" 
and battered it to pieces. And, as if to add to English luck, 
a storm came down and blasted the ships which escaped 
the fire of English guns. This was more than a "great 
victory." It made way for the British Empire. Hence- 
forth England could i5lant settlements beyond the seas, 
and defend them against all comers. Then it was that 
far-sighted men, like Sir Walter Raleigh, could safely dream 
of a " New England," to rise in the wildernesses of North 
America. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why was a sea-route to Asia so eagerly desired by the 
people of western Europe during the last quarter of the fifteenth 
century t 2. Who was Prince Henry the Navigator, and why 
was he so called.^ Why is his name remembered .f* 3. Locate 
the Madeira Islands; the Canary Islands; the Azores. When 
and by whom were these islands discovered ? 4. Why did 
sailors hesitate to go southward along the coast of Africa in the 
hope of finding a route to India t 5. Where is the Cape of Good 
Hope t How did it get its name ? 



36 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

II. I. How did Columbus plan to reach the Indies by sea ? 
2. What difficulties did he have in raising money for his first voy- 
age ? How did he finally succeed ? 3. How many voyages did 
he make ? 4. Describe the difficulties of his first voyage. How 
does it happen that the New World does not bear the name of 
Columbus ? 

III. I. Why was the voyage of Vasco da Gama so important ? 
2. What event should be remembered in connection with the 
name of Balboa ? 3. Magellan's voyage is referred to in the 
text as "the most memorable voyage in the annals of the sea." 
Give as many reasons as you can in support of this statement. 

- IV. I. In what important way did the work of Cortes and 
Pizarro differ from that of Columbus, Da Gama, and Magellan ? 
2. Why did the conquest of Mexico and Peru encourage the 
Spaniards to make further explorations in America? 3. With 
the discovery and exploration of what regions are the following 
names connected : De Leon, De Soto, Coronado } 4. Although 
all of these men were disappointed because they did not discover 
what they had hoped to find, their names are remembered in 
American history. Why ? 

V. I. What explorers did France send out? What were the 
results of their work .? 2. What did the King of England hope 
that John Cabot might discover ? What did Cabot actually find .? 
Why were his discoveries of importance to England ? 3. How 
long a time elapsed between the explorations of Cabot and those 
of Drake ? What were the Spanish doing in the way of exploring 
and conquering the Americas during this period ? 4. In what way 
was Drake's work a breach of good faith on the part of England 
toward Spain ? What was the effect in Spain ? How did the King 
of Spain hope to punish England, and what were the results of his 
efforts .? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Carrying goods by water, even to-day, is generally 
cheaper than transportation by land. Why was land transporta- 
tion much more inconvenient and costly in the time of Columbus ? 

2. Make a list of the most important advances in the art of 
navigation since the time of Columbus, especially regarding : 
(a) means of finding latitude and longitude; (b) means of avoid- 
ing dangerous coasts and finding safe channels and harbors; 



THE BOLD EXPLORERS 37 

(c) means of propelling ships ; (d) means of steering ships : 
(e) means of making ships secure against severe storms. 

I Many of the difficulties of early navigation are described in ch. 
xxii of Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe.'* 

3. Columbus, Vespucci, and John Cabot were all Italians. Why 
is it probable that Italy had more and better sailors at this time 
than Spain, Portugal, and England ? 

4. In addition to the facts given in the text, give a further ac- 
count of Columbus' work, particularly regarding : (a) his dif- 
ficulties in getting men and ships; (b) the dangers and difficulties 
of his first voyage and how he overcame them ; (c) the results of 
his later voyages. 

See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxiii; 
McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. vii ; Southworth's 
" Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 24-36 ; Tappan's 
"American Hero Stories," pp. 1-13 ; Stapley's " Christopher 
Columbus," chs. v-x, xiii-xix. 

5. Find out additional facts concerning Magellan : (a) his 
ships and crews; (b) the details of the long voyage; (c) where 
and how Magellan met his death. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. viii; Tappan's 
"American Hero Stories," pp. 14-24; Nida's "Dawn of American 
History in Europe," pp. 301-305. 

6. Tell how the Spaniards treated the natives of Mexico and 
Peru. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. ix; South- 
worth's " Builders of Our Nation," Book I, pp. 43-50 ; Hart's 
"Colonial Children," pp. 12-16; Pratt's "Cortes and Montezuma." 

7. The defeat of the Spanish Armada is regarded as one of the 
most important events in European history. Give as many reasons 
as you can find for its importance. 

See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxviii; 
Eggleston's "Our First Century," pp. 8-9; Tappan's "England's 
Story," pp. 201-204. 



CHAPTER III 
FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 

It was an easy matter to enroll a band of soldiers for 
an expedition to the New World, which promised booty 
in gold and silver and precious stones for all who took the 
risk. The nobles, especially of Spain and France, almost 
always had about them a troop of fighting men, ready for 
any exploit that offered excitement and wealth. It was 
an altogether different matter to find people who were will- 
ing to go out and make their homes in the wilderness. 
No hope of riches lured them. No thought of joyful return 
to admiring friends and relatives gave them heart for brav- 
ing the perils. When the pioneer and his family turned 
their faces toward the setting sun, they knew that the way 
was long, and the reward at the journey's end, at best, 
scanty and uncertain. They were not to discover wonder- 
ful cities, but to build them themselves. 

In such enterprises soldiers were of little help. They 
were, of course, indispensable in defending the emigrants 
against enemies, but they did not relish hard work in forests 
and fields. It takes industrious workingmen and women 
to found settlements, build homes, rear children, and create 
a nation. 

I. Difficulties and Dangers of Settlement 

The Dangers of the Voyage. — There were special reasons 
why it was difficult to find men and women wiUing to settle 
in North America. The perils of the deep were great enough 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 39 

to try the bravest. Under favorable conditions the voyage 
required from four to eight weeks. Often storms drove 
them far out of their course, and their suppHes of food and 
water were exhausted. The ships were small and built for 
coastwise trade rather than for long ocean voyages. Pirates 




A stockade such as the early settlers built to protect themselves from the attacks of 

the Indians. 

roved the sea, robbing and sinking mercilessly the helpless 
merchant and passenger ships. 

The Indians. — To these perils were added the dangers of 
attacks by Indians lurking in the forests or by the water's 
edge, ready to torture, scalp, and kill. 

It is just to say that at first the natives received the white 
men in a friendly manner and with childish glee traded 
shells, ornaments, and furs for beads, mirrors, and other 
trinkets. But the whites often paid back their kindnesses 
In cruel deeds. By the time when regular settlement began, 



40 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the Indians in nearly every section had learned to fear and 
distrust the newcomers. 

In many places the English were able to buy at low 
prices large tracts of land from the Indians, and to live for 
a time on good terms with them ; but there was a limit to 
the amount of land which the Indians were willing to sell. 
They had to have large ranges for hunting and fishing. For 
every acre that the white man required for a livelihood, the 
Indian required a thousand. One thing, therefore, was clear. 
The Indians could not go on living their wild, free life, if 
EngHsh settlers were to fill up the country. Two alterna- 
tives lay before the Indian. He could change his nature 
and his habits, and turn to labor in the fields like the white 
man ; or he could fight to keep his hunting grounds. 

The Indians, of course, could have labored for the white 
men, but for the proud Indians of the Atlantic seaboard 
that was quite out of the question. The Spaniards made 
serfs of many natives in Mexico and the Southwest, and 
the English sought to follow their example. Their experi- 
ments in Indian serfdom failed. 

The true North American Indian was restive and sullen 
when forced to labor in mines and fields. He did not like 
steady habits. He was used to having his wife or " squaw '' 
do all the hard drudgery of raising corn and tobacco and 
making utensils, as well as the ordinary housework. Ac- 
customed to a wild life in the forests in search of game, he 
did not propose to do " woman's work " for anybody. A 
few tribes, such as the Senecas of the Iroquois group, lived 
in a somewhat settled manner in " round houses " or " long 
houses " built of light timbers and bark or clay, but most 
of them preferred the wigwam of birch bark and skins which 
was easily portable. 

There was no way of inducing the Indian to adopt the 
white man's way of Hving. As the country filled up with 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 41 

settlers who steadily encroached on the hunting grounds 
it became evident that armed conflicts could not be avoided. 
The English who went out to the New World, therefore, 
knew that the perils of warfare awaited them. 

II. Conditions in Europe which Led to the 
Colonization of America 

In view of the hostihty of the Indians, and all the dangers 
that beset the pioneers in the New World, we may indeed 
wonder where were the men and women to be found ready 
to leave their homes in the Old World for the hazards of the 
New. The answer is to be found in the new conditions that 
had arisen in Europe. 

Between Columbus' day and the date of the first Eng- 
Hsh settlement in America marvelous changes had taken 
place in all the countries of western Europe, and in England 
as well. The old order of things had begun to break up, 
and peasants and merchants became more and more wiUing 
to leave their old ways for new, and to risk the perils of life 
in the wilderness. The history of these important changes 
is told under the following heads: (i) changes in religion, 
(2) increased hardships of the peasants, (3) changes due to 
the development of the art of printing, and (4) the influence 
of gold from the Spanish possessions in America. 

I. Religious Changes. The Protestant Reformation. — First 
among these great changes was the revolt against the 
Catholic Church in northern Europe. About 1521, fifteen 
years after the death of Columbus, a dispute began which 
ended in the complete separation of large portions of 
Germany, and all of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland, 
and England from the Catholic fold. France and Spain 
remained loyal to the old Church, but not until " Protest- 
ant " movements had made them a great deal of trouble 
and had been put down with heavy loss of Kfe. 



42 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

In the beginning, the dispute was, in the main, taken up 
by kings and princes who " protested " against the suprem- 
acy of the Pope ; hence the term " Protestants/' When a 
prince decided to abandon his ancient faith and turn Prot- 
estant, he usually decided for his subjects as well as for 
himself; and if some of his people resisted the change in their 
faith, they were hable to be severely punished or driven _ 
out of the country. 

As time went on, the common people began to assert 
what princes had asserted ; namely, that they had a right to 
decide for themselves what religious opinions they would 
hold. 

Protestantism in EngTand: the " Established " Church. — 
In England, King Henry VIII (1509-47) broke with the 
Pope, declared the independence of the English Church, 
and placed himself at its head. A few years after Henry's 
death, important changes were made by law in the services 
and in Christian doctrines as to religious life and faith. 
The church thus organized under Acts of Parliament was 
known as the Church of England or the Established Church. 

The Puritans. — In the reign of Henry's daughter, Eliza- 
beth, some of her subjects became dissatisfied with the 
Established Church. They began to demand its " purifica- 
tion " by abolishing some of the ceremonies which had been 
taken from the Catholic Church, and by the removal of 
images from the places of worship. These " purifiers," or 
Puritans, as they were called, did not propose to overthrow 
the Established Church altogether; they believed in keep- 
ing the authority of the bishops and priests over the lay- 
men ; but they wanted to reform the Church in accordance 
with their notions of what was proper. 

The Separatists. — The Puritans had hardly begun to 
make trouble for the government before there appeared 
another group of religious reformers who were not content 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 43 

with the mere purification of the State Church, who even 
denied its authority altogether, and asserted the right of any 
congregation to adopt its own kind of worship and choose 
its own preacher and officers. These radicals were called 
" Dissenters " or " Separatists/' 

Divisions of the Dissenters : Presbyterians^ Baptists, 
Quakers. — The Dissenters were themselves soon divided 
into many sects. Among these were the Presbyterians, fol- 
lowers of John Calvin, who established his church at Gen- 
eva about 1540. The Presbyterians were particularly 
strong in Scotland, and they were also very influential 
in England. 

Another sect, far more numerous than the Presbyterians, 
was that of the Baptists. John Bunyan, the author of 
" Pilgrim's Progress," was of this faith. He wrote his 
immortal book while in prison for his religious views. 

Shortly after the Baptists began to spread their faith in 
England, a third sect, popularly known as " Quakers," 
arose as a result of the teachings of George Fox, who began 
to proclaim his doctrines about 1647. The members of 
this new body were known as the ** Friends," on account of 
their kindly care of one another. The Friends opposed 
war and violence, and rejected all religious ceremonies. 

The Persecution of the New Sects Led Many to Leave 
England. — As new sects sprang up, the older sects looked 
with disfavor and distrust upon them, and began to persecute 
them. Catholics burned Protestants at the stake, and 
Protestants burned Catholics. In England the Established 
Church was almost as severe in its treatment of the Puritans 
and Separatists as of the Catholics. The first Stuart king, 
James I, who came to the throne after the death of Queen 
Elizabeth in 1603, was bitterly intolerant towards all of the 
Dissenters and determined to " harry " them out of the 
land. Cruel orders were issued against Puritans, Baptists, 



44 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Presbyterians, and Quakers without discrimination. Theii 
leaders were imprisoned, set in pillories, tortured, and muti- 
lated. Inasmuch as the Church and the government were 
both in the same hands in England, the Dissenters came to 
hate the persecuting government as much as they did the 
Church. No wonder that so many of them preferred the 
rigors of the New World to the cruelties of the Old. More- 
over, James was glad to be rid of them and let them depart 
in peace. 

III. Other Conditions in Europe which Led to the 
Colonization of America 

2. Cruel Treatment of the Peasants in England. — 
There were other reasons why the peasants were willing 
to leave their country for the New World. When Henry 
VIII broke with the Pope of Rome, he seized the lands 
of the monks and nuns — millions of acres — and gave 
estates to his favorites. The new landlords, anxious to 
make all the money they could, often turned their estates 
into large sheep farms and drove the tenants from their 
homes, to starve or to hunt a new way of making a living 
elsewhere. 

England, in Elizabeth's day, was filled with wretched 
peasants who had been driven from the soil on which they 
were born. If they were caught begging, they were im- 
prisoned, whipped, or branded. If they were caught 
stealing, they were liable to be hanged. The jails were full 
And the poorhouses were crowded. Although the population 
of England was really very small, writers began- to discuss 
ways and means of finding an outlet for the " surplus 
people." A peasant harried from his home, and ordered 
to the whipping post by a cruel justice of the peace, was 
doubtless prepared to try his fortune almost anywhere else 
in the world. 



' 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 45 

3. The Development of the Art of Printing. — While 
the Protestant revolt was growing and religious persecution 
was spreading far and wide, other grave changes were taking 
place. Printing, which had been invented in Europe 
about fifty years before Columbus set sail, had developed 
rapidly. Books, which had been luxuries for the few 




The Invention of Printing: Taking the First Impression from Types 



when they were all written by hand, now became so cheap 
that the poorer people could afford them. 

With the growth of Protestantism, the reading of the 
Bible by the working people became more common, and the 
various sects sought to keep the children true to their faith 
by founding religious schools in which were taught their 
views on the Bible and religion. Through books of 
travel a better knowledge of the world, of discoveries and 
adventures, spread even into the remotest villages and 
stirred up the more courageous to a desire to seek liberty 
abroad. 



4.6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

4. The New Supply of Gold from the Spanish Possessions. 
— The discoveries and conquests of the Spaniards had in- 
creased the gold and silver coin in circulation in Europe. 
This had two important effects: 

(a) Serfs in many parts of western Europe, who had been 
paying their landlords in labor and produce, began to pay 
in money and thus became cash renters instead of bondmen. 
In a way the change was very much like that in our 
Southern states after slavery was abolished and the slaves 
became renters of the land they formerly tilled as bondmen. 
In time the cash renter was free to journey to the towns or 
to the new countries. 

(b) Capital to invest in colonies was amassed. The in- 
crease in gold and silver, and the discovery of the new 
routes to India, made business grow by leaps and bounds. 
Shrewd traders sometimes made as high as one thousand 
or even fifteen hundred per cent on a lucky voyage to the 
East Indies. The landlords, who now received cash in- 
stead of labor and produce for rent, had some ready money 
to invest. In this way it came about that at the time 
when many causes were driving people to the point of leav- 
ing England, the capital was available for starting the set- 
tlements in the New World. 

IV. English Settlements in Virginia 

Settlements under " Companies " and '* Proprietors." — 
As we all know, whenever any large enterprise is started, it 
is necessary to have labor and capital ready. There 
are two principal ways of getting the latter. Several 
persons may band together and each put in a sum of money, 
and perhaps add his labor as well. This we call -forming 
a " company." Another way is for some very rich and 
powerful person to furnish all the money and invite others 
to come into the enterprise under his direction. Such a 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 47 

person is called a " proprietor/' These were the two ways 
employed in the seventeenth century to bring emigrants 
and capital together in order to found settlements or 
colonies. 

The London Company Founds Jamestown (1607). — 
The first successful settlement of the English in America 
was made by a company formed for the purpose, and duly 
authorized by King 
James 1/ The king, 
of course, claimed 
all of the land dis- 
covered by his sub- 
jects, and no one 
had any right to 
settle upon it with- 
out his permission 
in the form of a 
grant or charter. 

In 1606 James I 
issued charters to 
two companies, the 
London Com.pany 
and the Plymouth 
Company, granting 
to the former an enormous tract to the southward along 
the Atlantic coast, and to the latter a great tract to the 




Land Granted to the London and Plymouth 
Companies 



* Sir Humphrey Gilbert had plans for founding a settlement in the New World. 
He landed at Newfoundland (1583) but failed to establish a colony. In attempt- 
ing to return home, his ship went down in a storm, and all on board were lost. 
In 1584, Sir Humphrey's half brother. Sir Walter Raleigh, sent out an expedition 
which reached Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. On its return 
home, he so highly praised the new country that Queen Elizabeth was greatly 
pleased with it and named it after herself (the Virgin Queen), "Virginia," and 
made plans for a permanent colony. Raleigh sent over many settlers, but all 
his efforts came to naught. His second band of colonists, including women and 
children, entirely disappeared and no one knows what became of thern, 



48 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

northward. The first of these companies raised money, 
equipped ships, found settlers wilHng to make the venture, 
and dispatched an expedition to America. This expedition 
reached the shores of Virginia, and in 1607 a colony 
was founded on the James River at Jamestown, so named 
in honor of the king. 

Hardships of the Colonists: the ^^ Starving Time.'' — 
The plantation at Jamestown was the beginning of the 
colony of Virginia which was destined, in the coming years, 
to furnish so many well-known American leaders, like 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. For a 
long time, however, it gave little promise. The London 
Company, which had raised the capital for the experiment, 
looked upon it largely as a money-making venture. They 
expected that gold and silver would be discovered and they 
hoped for some return from the rich 
soil. But they were disappointed. 
Searches for precious metals were fruit- 
less, and agriculture did not flourish. 

Many of the little band of men who 
went out were poverty-stricken persons, 
idlers who had nothing to lose and 
proved to be restless and quarrelsome. 
They were not prepared for hard labor. 
When their courageous captain, John 
Smith, was injured and compelled to 
return home, they came so near starving that they prepared 
to abandon the colony. In fact they had set sail, when 
supplies and new settlers arrived. Thus heartened, the 
colonists renewed the experiment with more success. Con- 
vinced at length that no gold or silver could be found, they 
resigned themselves to earning a livelihood by tilling the 
soil. 

Wives for the Settlers. — The first settlers in Virginia did 




FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 49 

not bring wives with them, and it was some Httle time be- 
fore any women appeared in the colony. In 1619 a ship- 
load of them came over to risk their fortunes in the New 
World. They were taken as wives by the planters, who 
paid for their passage in tobacco. 

Labor Difficulties, — It was quite as difficult for the plant- 
ers to find laborers for their great fields as it was to induce 




The First Women to Risk Their Fortunes in the New World 

women to come over to America.] Many gentlemen of 
means and poor sons of well-to-do EngUsh parents had 
staked out huge estates and, unaccustomed to hard labor 
themselves, they were in dire straits for workmen. Large 
numbers of laborers who had contracted with the Company 
to work for the planters, finding land plentiful, refused to 
carry out their promises and went into farming on their 
own account in the interior. 

Slavery hitroduced {i6ig). — Altogether, the "labor 
question " was a serious one for the gentlemen, but at last a 
solution of the problem seemed to be found. In 1619 a 
cargo of negroes, torn from their homes in Africa by Dutch 



^1 



50 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

slave traders, was brought into Virginia and sold to the 
planters. The slave trade soon became, a profitable business 
for shipowners in New England as well as in Great Britain, 
and in time an abundant labor supply was furnished for the 
plantations. 

Virginia Becomes a Royal Province. — As the population of 
the colony increased, the Virginia Company in London 
found it more and more difficult to manage a settlement of 
turbulent planters and laborers some three thousand miles 
away. The Company's troubles were increased by quarrels 
with James I, and in 1624 the king revoked the charter, 
broke up the Company, and assumed the control himself, 
transforming the colony into a " royal province." 

The First Colonial Legislature. — There was, however, an 
important check on royal authority. " In 1619 the Com- 
pany had invited the well-to-do planters to help in the 
government by sending two citizens from each settlement 
and borough to meet with the governor and council at 
amestown. This was the first " people's " legislature on 
our continent. The assembly, or " House of Burgesses," 
as it was called, continued to share in the government of 
Virginia until the Revolution. Many and long were the 
disputes it had with the royal governor, until at last, 
weary of the struggle, Virginia joined with the other col- 
onies in declaring its independence from Great Britain. 

V. English Settlements in New England 

The Pilgrim Fathers. — Shortly before the London Com- 
pany was abolished by the king, it granted to a small band 
of English men and women, famous in our history as the 
" Pilgrims," permission to settle in Virginia. This Httle 
group was composed of humble folk who had " dissented " 
from the English Church and declared their right to form 
independent religious congregations and to worship God 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 51 

according to their own consciences. The views and conduct 
of these separatist congregations had thoroughly disgusted 
King James I, who did not beheve that " Tom, Dick, 
Harry, and Will'' had any right to decide rehgious ques- 
tions for themselves. James was so intolerant that hun- 
dreds of independents fled from England to Holland. 

The Pilgrims Reach America {1620). — Although they 
were generously treated by the Dutch, the Separatists were 
English at heart and they longed for a land of their own. 
After much discussion among themselves, many of them 
decided to go to America, where their countrymen were 
founding a new nation. In July, 1620, the Pilgrims set out 
from Holland in the ship Speedwell for Southampton, Eng- 
land, where they were joined by another party of Sepa- 
ratists in the famous Mayflower. The Speedwell proved to 
be in such a wretched state that the whole party had to 
put back to port. It was not until September that the 
Pilgrims, 102 in number, crowded in the little Mayflower^ 
finally sailed for America. 

They expected to reach Virginia, where they had per- 
mission to settle ; but they were driven by storms to Cape 
Cod, within the territory of the Plymouth Company, where 
they had no rights at all. They debated for a long time 
what to do. After four or five weeks of exploration along the 
coast, on December 22, 1620, they landed at Plymouth.^ 

The Mayflower Compact. — Before the Pilgrims went 
ashore, the men in the Company met in the cabin of the 
Mayflower, and drew up an agreement to form a govern- 
ment among themselves, and to obey the rules made by 
that government. Thus they looked not to a royal charter 
for guidance, but to the authority established by the 
" Mayflower Compact," which has been called the first 

^ They are supposed to have stepped from their row boats to a bowlder which 
Jias become celebrated in our history as " Plymouth Rock." 



52 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

written constitution in the world. Having guaranteed 
good order, the Pilgrims set about building their homes 
amid discouragements such as have come to few pioneers 
in the history of America. 

Early Hardships and Final Success of the Colony. — The 
cold, gray New England winter shut down upon them, 
and before summer came again one half of the devoted 
band was dead. Even during the second and third years 
the Pilgrims suffered grievously.^ Often " they knew not 
at night where to have a bit in the morning," but they 
were sustained by the belief that God would not abandon 
those who worshipped him with such singleness of devotion. 
In time their harvests became abundant, and friends from 
England came in such numbers that Plymouth grew into a 
flourishing settlement. 

The Puritans Establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony. — 
Massachusetts, like Virginia, was founded by a commercial 
company formed in England. It was chartered in 1629 by 
King Charles I, who granted to " adventurers " a large 
domain within the borders of the territory of the old 
Plymouth Company, which had failed to accomplish any- 
thing important. This new concern, the Massachusetts 
Bay Company, differed, in many ways, from the London 
Company which planted the Virginia Colony. 

In the first place, it was composed entirely of " Puritan " 
gentlemen who, having failed to reform the English Church 
to their own liking, were determined to go where they could 
found churches of their own (see page 42). 

In the second place, the Massachusetts Company did not 
remain in England and attempt to plant and govern a colony 



^ The Pilgrims early made a treaty with Massasoit, the chief of a neighbor- 
ing Indian tribe. Later other tribes gave them some trouble which might have 
proved serious, had it not been for the prompt action of Miles Standish, who 
had been placed in charge of the military affairs of the little colony. 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 53 

across the Atlantic. On the contra-ry, the members of 
the Company took the charter which the king had 
granted them, gathered other Puritans, together with many 




Early New England Settlements 



WuiS. Eug. Co.j N.y, 



laborers and bond servants, and in 1630 came to Massa- 
chusetts — more than a thousand strong, in seventeen 
ships. Under the leadership of John Winthrop, a very rich 
and pious man, they planted settlements at Boston and 
other points around Massachusetts Bay. 



54 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




John Winthrop 



The Character of • the Puritan Settlers. — The leaders 
among the Puritans were, for their day, men of wealth and 
education. They were better equipped with ships, sup- 
plies, and tools than were the 
Pilgrims or the Virginians. More- 
over, they had little trouble in 
getting free white emigrants for 
their settlements. Thousands of 
their countrymen were only too 
happy to escape the persecutions 
of the English king and the Es- 
tablished Church, and were pre- 
pared to work hard with their 
own hands to clear the forests 
and build homes for themselves 
and their children. 
It is true, many bond servants (p. 72) and a few thou- 
sand slaves were brought into New England ; but the bulk of 
the population was composed of free farmers and their wives 
who had the courage to endure privations and the will to 
work hard for their livelihood. The few bond men brought 
into New England were employed as domestic servants in 
the homes of the well-to-do. The use of African slaves in 
the stony fields was not profitable. 

Roger Williams and Rhode Island. — Although the Puritans 
had suffered much from persecution, they were unwilling to 
tolerate in their midst people who did not agree with them 
in religious matters. Any new sect that appeared in Mas- 
sachusetts was badly treated and its members were driven 
out into the inland wildernesses. 

In 1636 Roger Williams, who had been preaching at 
Salem doctrines which were displeasing to the Puritans, 
was banished from Massachusetts. With a httle band of 
followers, he went south and laid out the town of Provi- 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 55 

dence. Other settlements, including one at Rhode Island, 
soon followed. Seven years later, in 1643, the inhabit- 
ants of this new community were able to get from the 
English parhament a charter forming them into an in- 
dependent colony, " Providence Plantations." Twenty 
years later, Charles II granted to Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence a new charter which was kept as a constitution 
until 1843. 

The Beginnings of Connecticut and New Hampshire. — About 
the same time other bands of dissenters, who did not ap- 
prove the Puritan rule in Massachusetts or were searching 
for better land, set out for the Connecticut River valley, 
and there founded three towns, Hartford, Windsor, and 
Wethersfield. Like the Pilgrim fathers in the Mayflower, the 
men, in 1639, drew up a plan of government and agreed to 
abide by it. Their m.ost prominent leader was Thomas 
Hooker. 

Another religious leader, John Davenport, with a con- 
gregation of faithful followers, after a short stay in Boston, 
grew dissatisfied with the Puritans and took the water 
route to the north shore of Long Island Sound, where he 
planted the colony of New Haven in 1638. In 1662 New 
Haven was joined to the other Connecticut towns by a 
royal charter, and all of them were welded into the colony 
of Connecticut. 

Like Rhode Island and Connecticut, New Hampshire 
was an offshoot from Massachusetts. In 1679 it became a 
separate colony with a government of its own. 

The New England Confederation. — In 1643 Plymouth, 
Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven formed 
a union known as the *'New England Confederation," but 
it lasted for only a short time. It was useful in defending 
the settlers against the Indians and it pointed the way to 
the final union of all the colonie§, 



56 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



VI. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Caro- 
LiNAS, AND Georgia 

The Catholics in Maryland. — The king could give lands 
to one man or a few men, as well as to a company of 
men. In 1632 Charles I, who was kindly disposed towards 

Catholics, granted 




to a nobleman of 
that faith. Lord Bal- 
timore, a large block 
of land north of the 
Potomac. In this 
region the colony 
of Maryland was 
founded. 

It will be remem- 
bered that the 
Cathohcs as well as 
the Puritans had 
suffered persecution 
in England, and 
many of them were 
ready to settle in a 
new country where 
they could worship 
God in accord with 
the ancient faith of 
their fathers. They did not long enjoy their new freedom 
undisturbed. Protestants from New England and from Vir- 
ginia, fearing a Cathohc colony so near at hand, poured into 
Maryland in such force that they soon outnumbered the 
original settlers. The proprietor thereupon granted com- 
plete religious toleration for all who professed to beUeve in 
Jesus Christ. The colony of Maryland remained under 



Early Settlements in Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, AND Delaware 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 57 

the rule of the descendants of Lord Baltimore (except for 
a short time) until the eve of the American Revolution. 

William Penn and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. — Half a 
century after Lord Baltimore's Maryland grant, Charles II 
gave a great domain west of the Delaware River to another 
proprietor, WiUiam Penn, a member of the Society of 



.--^i^^!fc.- 




Surveyors Laying Out Baltimore 



Friends. The Friends, like the Catholics and Puritans, 
had suffered persecution in England and, in fact, some of 
them had been hanged by the Puritans in Massachusetts 
on account of their rehgious opinions. The Quakers were 
therefore overjoyed at finding an escape from intolerance 
when Penn offered them cheap lands in the new territory 
of Pennsylvania, — Penn's Woods, as the king insisted upon 
naming it. The Quakers were very tolerant in their views 
and joined with the proprietor in welcoming Christians of 
all faiths to their colony. In addition to the Quakers, 
great numbers of Protestants from northern Ireland and, 
later, Protestants from Germany came to Pennsylvania. 

The Quakers were shrewd merchants and traders as well 
as generous in their religious opinions, and they soon had 




58 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

a flourishing city, Philadelphia, built lipon the banks of the 
Delaware. In order to secure a sea-coast Hne, Penn, in 1682, 

got possession of lands on the 
Delaware River and Bay which 
had been settled by Swedes in 
1638. This new territory re- 
mained a part of Pennsylvania 
until 1703, when it was formed 
into a separate colony of Dela- 
ware, under the proprietorship of 
Penn. Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware continued under the direc- 

From an old engramng tioU of the PcUU family UUtil the 

William Penn d 1 ^- 1 

Revolution. 1 

The Carolinas Also Settled under Proprietors. — Two English 
colonies in the South, North and South Carolina, were 
also founded under the management of proprietors. In 
1663 King Charles II granted to eight noblemen a great 
domain south of Virginia, extending to the Spanish posses- 
sions of Florida. These proprietors sent out some colonists, 
and other settlers migrated into their territory from Vir- 
ginia. Charleston was founded in 1680, and before many 
years it became a thriving seaport. 

Though the settlements near Virginia and those farther 
to the south had little or nothing to do with each other, it 
was many years before the two regions were divided into 
separate colonies. North and South Carolina. The pro- 
prietors were always in trouble with the settlers over the 

^ The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was not clearly defined 
in the original charters granted to Lord Baltimore and William Penn. As the 
colonies became settled, difficulties arose as to the location of the boundary line. 
In 1767 two surveyors, Mason and Dixon, were employed to mark a boundary 
which has since been known as the " Mason and Dixon line." For many years 
this line was frequently spoken of as dividing the Northern from the Southern 
states. 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 59 

payment of taxes and the sale of lands. In 1729 the two 
CaroHnas were taken over by the king, the proprietors re- 
ceiving a few years later a small payment of money for all 
their rights and claims. From 1729 until the Revolution, 
North and South CaroKna remained royal provinces. 




A T L A N T I C 
OCEAN 

SCALE OF MILES 

00 150 

V'm.=. Eng. Co.. N.Y. 



Early Settlements in the C.^olinas and Georgia 

James Oglethorpe and the Settlement of Georgia (1732). 
— The last of the Enghsh colonies was founded far to the 
south in the Georgia wilderness. In England, at the time 
of the reign of George I, there dwelt a kind man, James 
Oglethorpe, who took a deep interest in the poor debtors 
huddled up in the English prisons, and was moved to 
find an opportunity for them in the New World. He or- 
ganized a board of trustees and secured from the king, for 
a term of years, a grant of land to the south of the Savan- 
nah River. Charitable persons were induced to give money 



6o 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



for the scheme, on the ground that it would help the poor, 
and business men were invited to invest because the 
enterprise promised to be profitable. Slavery and the 
sale of rum were forbidden in the new colony. Every 
effort was made by the trustees to build up prosperous 
settlements. 

The prisoners who were transported did not, however, 
prove to be very good workmen. So it was found necessary 




Types of Men and Women Who Came Over with Oglethorpe 

to induce a different class of settlers to come into the colony. 
Owing to the scarcity of labor, the rule against slavery was 
abolished and large numbers of negroes were imported to 
till the plantations. At last, in 1752, the trustees gave 
up the experiment and turned Georgia over to the king, 
George II. From that time until the Revolution it remained 
a royal province. 



VII. New York and New Jersey 

The Dutch Settle New Amsterdam (1623). — One of the 
most important colonies in America was not founded by 
Enghshmen at all, but by the Dutch. These hardy people, 
although their independence from Spain was not formally 
recognized until 1648, had been able to develop trading 
and colonial enterprises of their own in the East Indies 
and in America. Under their direction, in 1609, Henry 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 6 1 



Hudson, an Englishman in command of a Dutch fleet, 
sailed far up the great river that now bears his name, in 
search of a northwest passage to the Far East where men 
were growing rich out of the spice trade. Although this quest 
ended in failure, the Dutch West India Company, a few 
years later (1623), planted the post of New Amsterdam on 
the Island of Manhattan. 



^radiiii'iia 



r. 







From Valentine's Manual 

The Home of Peter Stuyvesant in New Amsterdam 

In order to induce wealthy men to undertake the up- 
building of this country — New Netherland — the Dutch 
company granted enormous estates to " patroons," or 
patrons, who would undertake to bring over parties of settlers. 
The patroons advanced the money to pay for the passage 
of the men and women, and for seeds and farming imple- 
ments. The immigrants, in return, were bound very much 
like serfs to the estates of the patroons. 



62 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



The English Capture the Dutch Colony. — The Dutch 
were able to hold their colony for a Httle more than fifty 
years. In 1664, during a war between England and Hol- 
land, a British fleet rode into the harbor and compelled 

the " leather-sided, lion- 




hearted old governor," 
General Peter Stuyve- 
sant, to surrender New 
Amsterdam. King 
Charles gave New Neth- 
erland to his brother, 
the Duke of York, and 
the province then be- 
came " New York.'' 
Englishmen soon began 
to settle down in large 
numbers among the 
Dutch. After the king 
of France, Louis XIV, 
started his religious per- 
secutions in 1685, many 
of his Protestant sub- 
jects, known as Hugue- 
nots, also came to the 
colony. They founded 
New Rochelle, naming it after their old home in France. 
Like the Dutch, they proved to be a wise and frugal people 
from whom sprang many persons eminent in American 
history. ■ In 1685, when the Duke of York became King 
James II, his colony was made a royal province. 

The Settlement of New Jersey. — The Dutch had also 
claimed the country across the Hudson River to the west 
and south. When they were overthrown by the English 
that region was granted to Sir George Carteret and Lord 



Early Settlements in New York and 
New Jersey 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 63 



Berkeley, the former assuming the office of governor. In- 
asmuch as he had once been governor of the Isle of Jersey 
in the English Chan- 



nel, it was thought fit- 
ting to name the colony 
" New Jersey/' Some 
time afterward it was 
sold to Quaker pro- 
prietors, and in 1702 
it became a royal 
province. It was at 
first attached to New 
York, but several years 
later (1738) it was 
given a royal governor 
of its own. 



^Nf^ 




1. ^W" 



'^ 



^^^ I'^l'A.* O 



One of the First Mr t ting HoLbrs in the 
Colonies at Newark, N. J. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why were the European soldiers not likely to make good 
settlers for the new lands in America ? 2. In what ways did the 
Indians make settlement by Europeans difficult ? 

II. I. Why did the religious changes in Europe lead people 
to settle in America ? 2. Who were the Protestants ? The Puri- 
tans ? The Separatists ? 3. What is meant by " intolerance " in 
religion ? 

III. I. Why was the development of printing important in 
leading to the settlement of America, even though few people 
could read at that time ? 2. How were the peasants treated in 
England at the time of Queen Elizabeth ? What effect did this 
have upon emigration to America ? 3. It is easy to see that 
the American gold, poured into Europe as a result of the Spanish 
conquests, would have led fortune-hunters and adventurers to 
America ; but how did it influence real settlement and coloniza- 
tion ? 

IV. I. When and where was the first permanent English 
settlement made in America ? 2. How was this colony governed 
at the outset .? 3. Why did the settlement come near to failure .f* 



64 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

4. When and why were African slaves introduced ? 5. Why- 
did this settlement become a royal colony ? What is meant by 
that term ? 

V. I. Who were the Pilgrims, and why did they decide to 
settle in America ? Locate Plymouth on the map and tell how 
they happened to choose this place for their home. 2. What 
was the Mayflower Compact ? Why is it important in our his- 
tory ? 3. What other important colony was established in what 
is now Massachusetts ? By whom ? 4. Compare the settlers 
in New England with those in Virginia. 5. Who was Roger 
Williams } With what colony is his name connected ^ 6. Locate 
on the map the points at which Connecticut was first settled. 
Whence came the first settlers of Connecticut ^ 

VI. I. What is meant by the proprietary colonies ^ 2. Name 
the proprietors and the religious denominations that should be 
remembered in connection with the settlement of Maryland. In 
Pennsylvania. 3. State how Delaware and the two Carolinas 
came first to be settled. 4. How did the settlement of Georgia 
differ from that of the other colonies ^ 

VII. I. Why did the people of Holland establish a settlement 
in America ? 2. When and how did they lose their colony ? 
What became of it .? 3. Why does New Jersey have the name 
that it now bears ? 

Review: i. Make a list of the colonies in the order of their 
settlement ; underline the names of the colonies that were settled 
by people who were seeking religious freedom; place a check (V) 
before those that were founded by companies, and a cross (X) be- 
fore those that were founded by proprietors. 2. Copy the fol- 
lowing, names and place after each the colony with which the 
name is connected : — Lord Berkeley; Lord Baltimore; Sir George 
Carteret; John Smith; John Winthrop; William Penn; James 
Oglethorpe; Peter Stuyvesant. 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Find out from the dictionary the differences of meaning 
of the following words : religion, denomination, sect. 

2. Why is a person who is paid for his labor in money generally 
more independent than one who is paid for his labor in food, cloth- 
ing, and shelter .? 



FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 65 

3. The text says, *' There was no way of inducing the Indian 
to adopt the white man's way of Hving." From a study of the 
Hfe and habits of the Indians make a Hst of the most important 
differences between unciviHzed and civiHzed peoples. Try to ar- 
range the differences in the order of their importance. 

For descriptions of Indian Hfe, see Hart's "Colonial Children," 
pp. 91-130; Hart's "Source Book of American History," pp. 23-26; 
Eggleston's "Our First Century," pp. 207-209; Smith's "The 
Colonies," ch. xviii ; Parkman's " Struggle for a Continent," 
pp. 460-472; 479-486. 

4. Select one of the following topics for special study 
and report : 

(a) The Jamestown settlement: See Southworth's 
"Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 73-78; Tappan's 
"American Hero Stories," pp. 38-49; Eggleston's "Our 
First Century," chs. ii, iii, iv, v; Smith's "The Colonies," 
ch. i; Johnson's " Captain John Smith," chs. ix-xix. 

(b) The Plymouth settlement: See Southworth, pp. 89- 
100; Tappan, pp. 59-72; Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 
133-136; Tiffany's "Pilgrims and Puritans," pp. 20-91; 
Eggleston, pp. 61-72; Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay 
State," pp. 15-39- 

(c) The New York settlement: See Southworth, pp. 
130-141 ; Tappan, pp. 73-83; Eggleston, ch. x; Smith's 
"The Colonies," chs. vi, vii. 

{d) Pennsylvania: See Southworth, pp. 187-196 ; Tappan, 
pp. 108-116; Smith, chs. xii, xiii ; Eggleston, ch. xiv; Hol- 
land's " William Penn," chs. viii, ix, xii. 

(<?) The Carolinas : See Eggleston, ch. xiii ; Smith, ch. v. 

5. Reference is made in this chapter to the struggle of the Dutch 
people for independence in the sixteenth century. One of the great 
figures of world history was an important leader in this struggle. 
Find out who he was and what he did. 

See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxvii. 



CHAPTER IV 
PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 

The history of the Enghsh colonies from the founding of 
Jamestown in 1607 to the eve of the American Revolu- 
tion is, in the main, a story of the migration of thousands 
of settlers — men, women, and children — across the ocean, 




<^r^p.<^^u,cp 



People of the American Colonies — Cavalier, Puritan, Hollander, 

AND Friend 



and of the westward movement of the people who pressed 
inland, clearing the forests and building homes, villages, 
and towns. Indian wars there were a-plenty, and many 
battles with the neighboring French and Spanish ; but the 
chief business was the task of making the wilderness habit- 
able and securing people to do the hard work. 

Why the People Came. — If we try to find out why people 
came to this country, we discover that there were several 
reasons : 

66 



PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 6^] 

1. Many of the immigrants, of course, were adventurers 
and fortune seekers, hoping to find in America a way to 
get rich quickly. 

2. Thousands came to seek a place where they could be- 
long to any church they chose, and worship God according to 
their consciences. 

3. Still others were sent away from Europe as undesirable 
citizens. 

4. By far the greater portion came for other reasons : 
especially because they hoped to find business opportunities 
in America or to escape from poverty and wretchedness in 
their native land, and to make better homes for themselves 
and their children. 

I. Important Causes of Immigration 

I. Exaggerated Statements Made to Tempt Colonists. 
Land-Owners Seek Labor. — The companies, proprietors, 
and individuals who received land grants were anxious to 
secure settlers in order to increase the value of their property. 
Land without hands to labor on it was worth no more 
than mountains in the moon. In order to induce workers 
to go to the New World and settle, gorgeous pictures of 
easy life and riches in America were drawn by land agents. 
When William Penn secured his grant from Charles II, he 
advertised widely in England and Europe to attract immi- 
grants to his newly acquired wilderness. 

Moreover, wild stories about chains of gold, plates of 
silver, and ornaments of precious stones were spread abroad 
among the people. As time went on, such absurd tales 
were discredited ; but very alluring stories of the ease with 
which a few hundred acres could be secured and a home 
built, drew thousands of English, Dutch, and German peas- 
ants to the New World. Tracts, poems, booklets, and 
handbills were printed and widely circulated, explaining 



68 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the wonderful opportunities in the colonies for those who 
wanted to escape serfdom and poverty in the Old World. 

Stimulation of Emigration by Ship-Owners. — The owners 
of ships soon joined with the great land-owners in encourag- 
ing emigration to America. Each passenger was charged 
from three hundred to five hundred dollars for the trip, 
and the more passengers the more money for the ship- 
pers. They therefore established offices in various ports, 
and persuaded people to emigrate. Their agents displayed 
the products of the new country and asserted that plenty 
of good land could be had for the asking. 

2. Desire for Religious Freedom. — There was perhaps 
less effort in New England to induce immigrants to come 
over than in the middle and southern colonies. The 
bulk of the population in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, and Connecticut, on the eve of the Revolu- 
tion was composed of the descendants of the twenty-five or 
thirty thousand Puritans who came to seek religious freedom, 
as well as opportunities to make a living. 

The Puritans. — No other people were better fitted 
for the stern task of conquering the wilderness than were 
the Puritans. They disliked idleness and evil doing of every 
kind. They were all devoted to their church, attended its 
meetings regularly, and kept the Sabbath strictly. They 
thought " stage plays " were wicked. On Sunday many 
a boy was soundly thrashed by his Puritan father for 
whistling a merry tune when he should have been thinking 
of life, death, and eternity. 

So zealous were they in their faith that they would not 
permit any one who was not a member of their church 
to vote or take part in government. They established 
schools where children had to learn to read the Bible and 
the catechism, and colleges for the education of ministers, 
lawyers, and "gentlemen." 



PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 



69 



The Puritans had a deep influence on the thinking and the 
hterature of America. Strains of Puritanism run through 
all our poHtics and poetry. In the eighteenth century 
New England furnished many leaders in the Revolution : 
men like James Otis, one of the first to lift his voice against 
the arbitrary deeds of the British Government ; Samuel 




felf 



From a painting by Boughion 



Pilgrims Going to Church 



They were all devoted to their church, attended its meetings regularly, and kept the 

Sabbath strictly. 

Adams, whose courage heartened his countrymen in their 
resistance to royal authority; and John Hancock, who 
signed the Declaration of Independence with such a clear 
hand that even King George could read it. In the early 
nineteenth century New England gave the country many 
poets, Whittier, Longfellow, Bryant ; historians, Bancroft, 
Parkman, and Prescott ; and champions of freedom for 
the slaves. Garrison, Phillips, and Sumner. 



70 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Quakers^ Dunkards, and Other Sects. — Outside of New 
England the religious influences in colonization were less 
marked but still very powerful. At New Rochelle, in New 
York, there was a settlement of French Huguenots. In 
New Jersey, the Presbyterians were numerous. In Dela- 
ware and Pennsylvania, Quakers, Mennonites, Dunkards, 
Moravians, and Lutherans dwelt side by side in pros- 
perous settlements. 

The first of these, the Quakers, or the Friends, though by 
no means as numerous as the Puritans, proved to be a great 
force in American life. While* strict in their habits, frugal, 
and stern, they were, for their time, very tolerant in rehgious 
matters. They early admitted members of other churches 
to a voice in the government of Pennsylvania and invited 
all peoples to come who were " peaceably disposed." 

Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland. — Another very 
important religious element was composed of the Presby- 
terian Scotch-Irish. Many Scotch came directly from 
Scotland to the New World, particularly in the eighteenth 
century, but most of them came by the way of Ireland. 
Thousands of Scotch and English settled in northern Ire- 
land in the seventeenth century after the EngHsh general, 
Cromwell, and his soldiers drove masses of the Irish from 
their native soil. 

They flourished in Ireland for a time, but after a while 
the English parliament began to make laws which injured 
their woolen industry; and they got into religious diflR- 
culties with the Church of England as well. They then 
set out for America in great numbers. Often an entire 
village or congregation, pastor and all, would migrate. It 
is estimated that at least 200,000 came in colonial times, 
and that when the Revolution broke out one sixth of the 
population was composed of the Scotch-Irish. They settled 
largely in the western regions of Pennsylvania, Virginiai 



PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 71 

and the Carolinas, and were counted a hardy and dogged 
race, equally zealous at praying, working, and fighting. 

The Catholics in Maryland. — Though surrounded on all 
sides by Protestants, the Catholics of Maryland increased 
in numbers and prosperity. By wise toleration of other 
religious sects, they pointed the way to religious freedom. 

Puritan Rule in England Causes Many Royalists to Emi- 
grate. — By a curious turn of fortune, a large number of 
Englishmen who had been persecuting the Puritans or had 
been of the party of persecution, were also driven to settle 
in America. The Puritans, in a famous revolution, over- 
threw the monarchy, beheaded King Charles I in 1649, and 
set up their own government under Cromwell. At this time, 
many of the royalists, " Cavaliers," as they were styled, 
left England for Virginia because they hated Cromwell's 
rule. They were loyal to the king and to the Church of 
England, the official church in Virginia. 



II. Poverty a Cause of Immigration ; Involuntary 

Colonization 

3. Poverty. — It would be a mistake to assume that 
the members of the various religious sects were all pros- 
perous in the Old Country and came to America merely 
to gain freedom of worship. On the contrary, most of 
them were poverty stricken and had to struggle hard to 
gain a foothold in the New Country. 

Taking the immigrants all in all, it would doubtless be 
safe to say that two thirds of them did not come to America 
because they were discontented with the churches or govern- 
ments of Europe, but because they sought to escape grind- 
ing poverty or were sent here against their will. Some- 
times those who came on account of religious scruples were 
inclined to look down upon the others as less worthy ; but 



72 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

who can say that it was any less honorable to come to 
America to find better homes and freer life than to escape 
religious persecution ? 

4. Involuntary Colonization : Slaves and Criminals. — 
Those who were brought here against their will were very 
numerous indeed. There were, of course, the negroes taken 
from Africa and sold as slaves. In addition to these, 
Europe sent to America thousands of men and women 
charged with crimes, in order to get rid of them. 

Probably most of them were the hapless victims of cruel 
laws and benighted judges. It was a common thing, in the 
eighteenth century, for a peasant to be hanged for shoot- 
ing a rabbit on his landlord's estate, or for filching some 
trifle, or for an educated person to be transported for life 
for criticizing the king. Doubtless many such " criminals " 
who were sent over proved to be as good citizens as some 
who came for their consciences' sake. 

Impressment of Immigrants. — Among those who came 
against their will were numbers of men and women, boys 
and girls, kidnapped in the streets of the cities or sold 
by merciless relatives. It was estimated that no fewer than 
ten thousand were carried oflF in one year from England 
alone. Shiploads of artisans, weavers, blacksmiths, car- 
penters, and other skilled workingmen were taken in this 
manner, and thousands of poor girls were dragged to America 
to be sold as wives to colonists or as household drudges. 
It was openly said in the English parliament that the plan- 
tations could not be maintained "without a considerable 
number of white servants." 

The Bond Servants. — By far the largest single class of 
white people who settled in the English colonies in America 
— larger perhaps than all the free Puritans and Cavaliers 
combined — was composed of " white servants," bound to 
labor for their masters for a term of years to pay for 



PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 



73 



their passage across the ocean. Bond servants differed 
from slaves principally in the fact that their term of serv- 
ice was from three or four to seven or ten years, as the 




People were kidnapped in the streets of- cities and sent to the New World. 



case might be, instead of for life. Women were generally 
sold at the same price as men, and commonly worked 
barefooted in the fields with men. Many people who were 
ground down by poverty in Europe were glad to sell them- 



74 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

selves for a few years, in order to have a chance to get a 
fresh start in a new land. 

White bondage was common throughout the colonial 
period and well into the nineteenth century ; in fact, until 
the " free labor " supply became sufficiently large to meet 
the growing demand for men and women on the farms and 
in the shops. 

The system began with the foundation of the colonies. 
The well-to-do Puritans who settled Boston and the sur- 
rounding regions brought many bond servants. White servi- 
tude was very extensive in Virginia in the early years of that 
colony and for a long time rivaled negro slavery as the 
source of labor supply. Slavery won at last, for slaves 
were easier to get and less troublesome than white servants, 
and besides they were bound for life instead of for a few 
years. Pioneer settlers in the Carolinas, Maryland, and 
New Jersey also brought large numbers of servants with 
them. In some cases as many as sixty would be found 
under a single master. 

WilHam Penn, to stimulate the settlement of Pennsyl- 
vania, offered special advantages to those immigrants who 
would bring one or more bond servants with them. As the 
Quakers disliked negro slavery, white servitude seemed to 
offer a way out of the difficulty of securing " hands." 
It is estimated that two thirds of the immigrants into this 
colony between the years 1707 and 1784 — especially the 
German settlers — were bond servants. The newspapers 
at the time were full of advertisements like this, taken from 
a Philadelphia paper of 1728: "Latety imported and to be 
sold cheap, a parcel of hkely men and women servants." 

Hardships of the Bond Servants. — Like the negro slaves, 
the bond servants were crowded into the ships that brought 
them over. Each captain's profits depended upon the num- 
ber he could herd between decks. England wished to see 



PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 75 

the colonies settled rapidly and the colonists were anxious 
for laborers. So the overcrowded conditions on ships were 
nothing short of dreadful. It was a common thing for the 
immigrant to have to supply himself with food on the voy- 
age ; if there were long delays due to calms or storms, 
many died of starvation and lack of water. 

The lot of the servant on landing depended upon his 
good fortune in finding a master. Some found good masters 
and were generously treated ; others were beaten and over- 
worked. 

Cruel as the system was in many ways, it gave to tens 
of thousands of poor people in England, Scotland, Ireland, 
and Europe the opportunity to reach America. After the 
expiration of their terms, large numbers of bond servants 
settled on lands of their own and took their places among the 
free citizens. 

Colonial America a " Melting Pot " of the Races. — 
Some one has called America of the twentieth century the 
" melting pot," in which all the races of the earth and all 
sorts and conditions of people are welded together in one 
nation. Although the immigrants during the colonial 
period were mainly from the British Islands, America was 
even then a melting pot. Nearly all religious sects were 
represented, and with the English, Irish, and Scotch were 
mingled Dutch, French, Swedes, and Germans. The ma- 
jority of those who came brought no riches with them — 
only stout hearts and willingness to labor wherever they 
could find an opportunity. 

Some writers have sought to hide the humble origin of so 
many American citizens, as if ashamed to tell the truth. 
Rather should we regard it as a marvelous testimony to the 
dignity and worth of human nature that out of so many 
who came to America poor and lowly, a great nation of 
self-governing people could be built up. 



^e THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why were companies, proprietors, and ship-owners 
tempted to exaggerate the opportunities of settlers in the New 
World ? 2. In what colonies were the settlers most largely 
made up of those who had left Europe to seek religious freedom ? 
3. Many people have thought that most of the early immigrants 
came to America for this purpose. Can you explain why they 
have held this opinion ? 

II. I. What is meant by the term involuntary colonization ? 
2. What different kinds of people were brought to America 
against their wills t 3. What is the meaning of the term bond 
servant t How did bond service differ from slavery ? 4. What 
advantages did the system of bond service offer to poor people 
who wished to escape the poverty of the Old World ? What were 
its disadvantages and dangers ? 

Review: State the important differences among the following 
types of immigrants to the colonies : Puritans ; Cavaliers ; Bond 
Servants. 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Imagine yourself a passenger on a ship from England to 
America in early colonial times. Tell about the length of the 
voyage, what you would have had to eat, the characteristics of 
your fellow-passengers, the dangers and discomforts of the trip. 

See Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 25-28, 34-35, 52-53. 

2. Oliver Cromwell is mentioned in this chapter as the leader 
of the Puritans in the English Revolution. Find out the main 
facts about this revolution. Why did Cromwell's part in the revo- 
lution make him one of the great men of English history ? 

See Warren's "Stories from English History," pp. 258-291; 
Tappan's "England's Story," pp. 235-251. 



CHAPTER V 

THE STRUGGLE AMONG THE POWERS OF EUROPE FOR 
NORTH AMERICA 

The two preceding chapters have dealt principally v/ith 
the English colonies in America, but it must not be thought 
that other European countries were all this time unmindful 
of the advantages which the New World offered. In enter- 
prise for exploration the French were not a whit behind the 
English, and only the lack of settlers prevented them from 
making New France as strong as New England. The 
Spanish were all the while busy in the Southwest convert- 
ing Indians and making settlements. And long before the 
American revolution the Russians had obtained a foothold 
in the Northwest. 

I. French Explorations and Settlements 

French sailors from the coasts of Brittany and Normandy 
were as hardy and daring as their rivals across the channel. 
Long before the foundation of the first English colony, 
there were a hundred or more French fishing vessels ofF the 
coast of Newfoundland every year. French explorers 
early began a search for lake and river routes to the western 
ocean. As we have seen, one year after the foundation of 
Jamestown and twelve years before the landing of the 
Pilgrims, the French under Champlain had established a 
post far up the St. Lawrence River, at Quebec. In 1642, 
just a little while after the outposts of Connecticut were 

77 



78 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



planted, the French established Montreal farther up the 
St. Lawrence. 

The French Explore the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. 
— From these points of vantage in the St. Lawrence Val- 





^ 



GVLF OF M'EXICO 



Wms. Eng. Co., N.Y. 



French Explorations and Trading Posts 

ley, the French pressed inland, seeking first a way to China, 
and then turning to the exploration of the vast interior. 
The early voyagers were so certain of finding Chinese in 
the distant inland regions that they took special goods 
to trade with the Orientals and special costumes to wear 
on being received by them. They explored the regions of 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 



79 



the Great Lakes ; they planted a cross at Sault Sainte Marie ; 

and in 1673 two of the most famous explorers, Marquette, 

a Jesuit missionary, and Joliet, reached the waters of the 

upper Mississippi. These 

adventurous men and a few 

companions drifted down 

the Mississippi past the 

present site of St. Louis 

and far beyond, until they 

came near enough to the 

outlet to satisfy themselves 

that the great river flowed 

into the Gulf of Mexico 

somewhere " west of the 

Cape of Florida and east 

of the California Sea." 

La Sailers Work in the 
Mississippi Valley. — Nine 
years after Marquette and 
Joliet made their memor- 
able voyage down the 
Mississippi and returned 
overland, another explorer. La Salle, went all the way 
down the Illinois River and the Mississippi to the Gulf of 
Mexico. He took possession of the fertile valleys far and 
wide, in the name of the French king, Louis XIV, and in 
his honor called the land "Louisiana." One of La Salle's 
officers sent back a report of this region as follows : 

In the rich bottom lands were corn fields and smiling meadows, 
mulberry trees and grape vines, and a great variety of fruits grew 
wild in the woodlands ; magnificent pine forests offered an inex- 
haustible supply of naval stores, while lead deposits that would 
yield two parts of ore to one of refuse only waited the miner's 
pick. Beaver were rare, but buffalo, bear, wolves and deer 




From an old print 

A Missionary Traveling in the Wil- 
derness 



8o 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



abounded. The trade in peltry alone could be made to yield 20,000 
ecus ^ per year. When the Indians are trained to tend silk worms, 
that industry alone would furnish a valuable article of trade. 

A few years after his famous journey down the Missis- 
sippi, La Salle brought over an expedition for the purpose 
of settling at the mouth of the river. Owing to a miscalcula- 
tion, he missed the outlet and drifted westward to the 




In 1718 the governor of Louisiana, Jean Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville, founded a 
settlement at New Orleans. 



shores of Texas, where he was murdered by his discouraged 
companions. 

The French Found New Orleans {17 18) and St. Louis. — 
Undismayed by the disaster which befell La Salle, another 
French soldier, Pierre le Moyne dTberville, with an armed 
force, set out from France in 1698 and started a colony 
at Biloxi on the Gulf. Twenty years later, in 171 8, the 
governor of Louisiana, Jean Baptiste le Moyne de Bien- 
ville, founded a settlement at New Orleans. 

^ About ^200,000 in money at present value. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 8 1 

After difficult beginnings, the French colonies began to 
grow rapidly, and under Bienville, the settlement at New 
Orleans flourished, until it became a town of no mean or- 
der as compared with other colonial ports. Traces of by- 
gone days are to be found everywhere in New Orleans 
still. The French quarter with its narrow streets, the old 
cemeteries built above ground because water would flow 
into the shallowest grave dug in the soil, the French names 
of the streets, the French newspapers, and the " Creoles," 
or inhabitants of French descent, all bear testimony to 
the work of the pioneers who labored with such zeal in 
the early eighteenth century to lay broad and deep the 
foundations of a greater France in America. 

From the base at New Orleans, the French began to work 
upward along the Mississippi to meet their fellow country- 
men who were building posts on their way downward from 
the north. Catholic missionaries, as heroic and self-forget- 
ful as any preachers of the gospel the world had ever 
seen, penetrated the wilderness in every direction, and 
French hunters planted post after post around the Great 
Lakes and at other carefully chosen points in the North- 
west territory. In 1762 a company of French merchants 
was granted a monopoly of the trade with the Indians on 
the Missouri River, and two years later they founded St. 
Louis, building on its present site a house and four 
stores. At this post rich stocks of furs were collected 
from all points west and north for shipment down the river 
and to Europe. 

II. Differences between English and French 
Policies of Colonization 

Policies of the French Government. — ■ Claiming territory 
and holding it by actual settlement were, however, totally 
different things. In the management of its American colo- 



82 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

nies the French government followed certain policies which 
did not help to build up populous dominions. 

1. The French king, who was a Catholic, would not 
tolerate any Protestants at all in France after 1685, and 
yet he would not let them go over to build up his colonies 
in America. They were thus compelled to suffer persecution 
at home, to become Catholics, or to flee to England or Prussia 
or the English settlements in America. 

2. The colonization of New France was carried out under 
the strict control of the government. The French king 
furnished a great deal of money for the expeditions and did 
not rely very much upon his enterprising subjects. 

3. The Frenchmen who did emigrate to the New World 
were not allowed to manage their own affairs. They were 
compelled in all things to obey the officers sent out by the 
king and to observe his laws. 

4. Even if the government of the French colonies had been 
more generous, it would have been difficult to find enough 
men and women to people the wilderness at that time; be- 
cause, almost from his accession to the throne in 1643 
until his death in 171 5, Louis XIV was engaged in costly 
and bloody wars on the continent, trying to gain more lands 
for himself and his family. Many thousands of hardy 
French peasants who might have built a greater France 
beyond the seas were killed in battle in Spain, Germany, 
Holland, and France. 

Policies of the English Government. Greater Independence 
in Matters of Government. — England was full of turmoil as a 
result gf the conflict between the king and Parliament, which 
lasted from 1629 (the date of the founding of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony) until the restoration of Charles II 
in 1660. With so much trouble at home, the English rulers 
had little time to look abroad for more. The English 
colonies were therefore subject to slight interference from 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 83 

the home government. In every colony there was speedily 
set up a little parliament or legislature to make laws for 
the community. Although by no means all the adult 
white males were allowed to vote for members of the 
legislature, at least some of the people were admitted to 
a share in their ov/n government. In two colonies, Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, and during early times in 
Massachusetts, the voters chose even their own governors 
as well as their legislatures. 

When, however, Charles II came to the throne in 1660, 
the English government began a policy very much like that 
pursued by the French king with reference to his domin- 
ions. Parliament made severe laws designed to control 
the trade and navigation of the colonies. In 1686 a stern 
governor. Sir Edmund Andros, was sent over with instruc- 
tions to issue orders and collect taxes in several northern 
colonies without the consent of the voters. The charter 
granted to Massachusetts in 1629 was taken away and all 
New England was governed in a high-handed manner. 

It looked as if more trouble was coming in 1685 when James 
II, who was a Catholic and out of sympathy with the 
Protestant colonies, came to the throne; but he was soon 
driven out of England by his subjects in the " Glorious 
Revolution " of 1688. In 1691 Massachusetts received a 
new charter, which restored the rights that Andros had 
taken away except that of electing the governor, who was 
henceforth to be chosen by the king. The colonists soon 
drove Andros out and a new period of freedom from inter- 
ference by the British government opened. 

The English Colonists Were More Tolerant in Religious 
Matters. — The fact that companies and private persons 
(proprietors) had so large a share in settling the American 
colonies helped to increase both religious toleration and 
the rate of immigration. A man or a company interested 



84 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

in making a large profit from the sale of lands was more 
likely to inquire whether a settler was a good honest laborer 
than whether he was a Catholic or a Protestant. 

Comparative Strength of English and French. — For all 
these reasons, at the end of one hundred fifty years of 
exploration and settlement the French in the New World 
numbered fewer than one hundred thousand, while the 
English numbered considerably more than a million. At 
home, however, France had three times the population 
and wealth of England and she had great strength on 
the sea. 

Although the French were few in number in America 
they had certain advantages over the English colonists. 
They were strongly fortified at Quebec and several other 
points, so that numbers alone did not count for everything. 
They had also made allies of many Indian tribes who 
promised to fight on their side. Finally, they were accus- 
tomed to obeying royal officers without question and did 
not suffer from intercolonial jealousies. 



III. The Struggle between French and English 

The Earlier Intercolonial Wars. — It was apparent for a 
long time that a final contest between England and France 
for world empire was bound to come. Two wars. King 
Wilham's (1689-97) and Queen Anne's (1701-13), had failed 
to bring a final settlement. In 1716 the English began to 
be disturbed about French doings in the Ohio region. In 
that 3'^ear the governor of Virginia wrote home to his king 
that if the French should succeed in connecting their posts 
in Canada with the colony of Louisiana " they might even 
possess themselves of any of these plantations they pleased." 
Thirty years later, King George's War (1744-48) failed to 
make the great decision. The only important permanent 




Longitude 



English, French, and Spanish Possessions in America, 1750 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 85 

result of these three conflicts was the capture of Port Royal 
and Acadia by the English in Queen Anne's War. Acadia 
was renamed Nova Scotia and the town became Annapolis. 

The French and Indian War in America (1754-1763). 
Washington s Expedition to the West. — The English saw that 
they would have to throw more energy into the struggle 
if they expected to become masters of the Ohio and St. Law- 
rence valleys. Under the guidance of able statesmen at 
home, the French were steadily building forts and posts for 
the purpose of holding the territory. They were fully aware 
that the greater France was at stake in the coming 
struggle. All this served only to stimulate to more deter- 
mined action the English empire builders, who saw clearly 
the value of " the wildernesses of the dark country." 

In 1749, the year after the close of King George's War, 
some London merchants and enterprising Virginians or- 
ganized the " Ohio Company " with a view to holding and 
settling the regions beyond the Alleghanies. Thereupon 
the French decided to keep as their own, by force of arms 
if necessary, all the Ohio Valley. Hearing of the advanc- 
ing French, the governor of Virginia, in 1754, sent forward 
a little army under the command of a young officer — George 
Washington — with instructions to complete and defend 
a post called Fort Duquesne on the site of the present city 
of Pittsburgh. 

When Washington arrived he found the French well 
entrenched. The Virginia army was soon compelled to fall 
back to Fort Necessity at Great Meadows, and then to sur- 
render to superior forces. 

Braddock's Defeat {lyss)- — The final war with France 
over North America thus opened with bad luck for the 
English, and the following year a still graver disaster over- 
took them. In 1755 a strong force of regular British troops 
was sent over from Great Britain under the command of 



86 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



General Braddock. These troops, accompanied by Wash- 
ington and a few Virginia soldiers, set out to capture Fort 
Duquesne. Despite the warnings of Washington, who knew 

how the French and 
Indians fought from be- 
hind trees and rocks, 
picking the enemy off 
one by one, Braddock 
marched into the wil- 
derness with drums 
beating and banners fly- 
ing. The error was 
fatal. The enemy am- 
bushed his soldiers and 
almost destroyed the 
army. Braddock was 
mortally wounded. As 
he was being borne off 
the field, he was heard 
to mutter " Who would 
have thought it " and 
" We shall know better 
how to deal with them 
Nothing 




Fort Duquesne and Vicinity 

next time 

but the brave and skillful management of Washington 
saved the retreating soldiers from total destruction. It 
was reported to the British government that Washington 
behaved on that occasion " as bravely as if he really loved 
the whistling of bullets." 

The Seven Years'' War {i'/^6-6f). — The following year 
the Seven Years' War broke out in Europe and soon 
encircled the globe. England and Prussia struggled for 
supremacy against France, Austria, and Spain. Far in 
the East, the EngKsh and the French waged war for the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 87 

possession of India ; and in North America the two rival 
powers began the last act in the dramatic contest for 
Canada and the Mississippi Valley. Fortunately for Eng- 
land the king's chief minister, William Pitt, was a far- 
seeing statesman. He had dreams of a world-wide British 
empire and knew that it could be won only by men, money, 
and ships. Instead of relying mainly upon the English colo- 
nists in America to dispose of the French in that quarter, 
he dispatched from England a large army of regular soldiers 
with orders to capture all the French strongholds. With 
some aid from the Americans, Pitt was able to accomplish 
his grand design. In a little while, " the wind, from what- 
ever quarter it blew, carried to England the tidings of 
battles won, fortresses taken, provinces added to the 
empire." 

Wolfe Captures Quebec. — On the North American con- 
tinent, the most famous of the victories was the capture of 
Quebec. One dark night in September, 1759, the Eng- 
Hsh commander, Wolfe, with a strong force of picked men, 
slipped along the water's edge in small boats until he found 
a good landing place under the heights of the French city. 
In single file the men silently crept up the steep banks 
to the plains before Quebec. In the morning the French 
general, Montcalm, whom Wolfe had described in a letter to 
his mother as " a wary old fellow," was astounded to see 
British soldiers marching in full array upon him. His 
men accepted battle with courage, but by nightfall they 
were utterly routed, and their leader lay mortally wounded. 

When told by his surgeons that death was only a few hours 
away, Montcalm replied that he was glad of it, adding, 
** I am happy I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 
There was a sadness also in the English victory, for their 
commander, too, was mortally hurt. Hearing that the 
French were running from the field of battle, Wolfe gave 



88 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



final orders to cut off their retreat and then turned on his 
side, saying, " Now, God be praised ! I shall die in peace." 
Other men took up the work which Wolfe had so skillfully 
begun. The following year Montreal fell before English 




From a print of the time. 

In the morning the French General was astounded to see British soldiers marching in 
full array on the Plains of Abraham 

forces. The fate of Canada was sealed. New France was 
a part of the British Empire. 

The Treaty of Paris ; Results of the War. — Peace was 
at length reached in Europe. By the terms of the Treaty 
of Paris, 1763, momentous changes were made in the fate 
of North America. Briefly the terms were : 

1. England wrested from France all of Canada and the 
territory east of the Mississippi except a small region around 
New Orleans, leaving her only two small islands off the coast 
of Newfoundland where her fishermen could dry their fish. 

2. England took from Spain the territory of Florida. 

3. For the loss of this province, Spain received some 



"180- 140" 120° 100' «0' GO" 40° 




Wms. Eng. CO..N.Y 



120' Longitude 



European Possessions in xA.merica, 1763, with British Possessions before 
THAT Date Indicated 



90 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

consolation, because France granted her all that was left of 
the vast Louisiana territory. In a little while the Spanish 
flag was flying over New Orleans. 

Effects of the Treaty of Paris on the English Colonies. — 
For the English colonies in America, the Treaty of Paris 
was full of meaning. The control of the French king 
being broken, religious toleration could be established in 
Canada and the country opened up to Protestant settlers 
and explorers. The aUiances between the French and the 
Indians being at an end, the latter were more careful about 
raiding English settlements on the western frontier. It be- 
came safer for the English pioneers from the seaboard to 
push over into the fertile regions of the Ohio. 

Thus the Treaty of Paris prepared the way for the rapid 
growth of the English-speaking people on the continent of 
North America; but this was not all. There was a still 
deeper meaning in the treaty. This was grasped by a 
wise Frenchman, Vergennes, who, on hearing of the down- 
fall of New France, exclaimed : 

England will ere long repent of having removed the only check 
that could keep her colonies in awe. They no longer stand in 
need of her protection; she will call upon them to contribute 
towards supporting the burdens they have helped to bring on 
her; and they will answer by striking off all dependence. 

IV. The Spaniards in Louisiana and the Southwest; 

THE Russians in the Northwest 

Spanish Rule in the Louisiana Territory. — The Seven 
Years' War decided the fate of all North America east of the 
Mississippi River. The future of the western Louisiana ter- 
ritory and of the southern and western regions now occupied 
by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Pacific states, 
was yet unsettled. Nominally most of that country be- 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 91 

longed to Spain in 1763, but Spain did little to occupy it. 
Spanish officers took the place of the French officers in the 
Louisiana trading posts and the seat of government was 
fixed at Mexico City. New Orleans was connected by a 
canal with LakePontchartrain ; the streets of the city were 
drained, watchmen were installed ; and the cultivation of 
sugar cane in the surrounding country was revived. Yet 
the population remained almost stationary. 

St. Louis alone grew, slowly, under Spanish rule. Many 
French from the Illinois country went across the Mississippi 
River when the English took possession of their former 
territory. Some of these pioneers carried on a considerable 
fur trade ; others worked the lead mines of Missouri ; but 
most of them settled down to till the fertile fields. The 
Spanish officers, knowing that there were no more Mexicos 
and Perus to conquer in the Southwest, became reconciled to 
a humdrum life in the forts along the Mississippi. 

Spanish Priests and Settlers in the Southwest. — Spanish 
soldiers also found little that interested them in the great 
regions now embraced in Arizona, Nev/ Mexico, Colorado, 
and California ; but the Spanish priests found religious work 
to do. At a time much earher than this, they had seen an 
opportunity to bring thousands of heathen Indians to 
the Christian faith. So they had journeyed in every 
direction, preaching the gospel and building missions in 
the wildernesses. By 1630 the Spanish priests had built 
ninety churches and baptized 86,000 Indians in the far 
Southwest. When they established a mission they usually 
brought soldiers to defend it and compelled the converted 
Indians to do the rough work in the fields. The Spaniards, 
who were familiar with irrigation and crops, showed the 
Indians how to improve their farms. They also taught the 
natives how to paint frescoes and to do wrought work in 
silver and iron. 



92 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



Why the Spaniards Failed to Colonize the Southwest 
Successfully. — The Spaniards who followed in the wake of 
the priests were not industrial workers, farmers, carpenters, 
and artisans. They were the descendants of the men who 
had despoiled Mexico and Peru of their treasures and they 
had no bent for hard or steady labor. These pleasure- 



, v^-fi^ t^^M^lJ^I'f^'Wtnwrt^W 



__. tl^V-B 



^ 1 






^mwm^i'^^mAim 



Palace of the Spanish Governor at Santa F:^ 

loving, idle soldiers became owners of vast stretches of land 
which they had no inclination to till or develop. 

Some of the Spanish governors sought to build up popu- 
lous colonies. They knew that a few soldiers and priests 
could not create a nation ; but there were grave obstacles 
in the way of settling this vast domain. The region was 
too distant from the mother country, and there were no 
religious disputes in Spain such as drove the Puritans from 
England and the Protestants from France. Moreover, 
though there was much fertile land in California and Texas, 
a great deal of the Southwest was desert or mountainous 
waste. The Colorado desert, the arid plateaus of New 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 93 

Mexico and Arizona, the dry regions of Texas, were not in- 
viting to Spanish grandees or Spanish peasants. They 
preferred to stay at home. 

Weakness of the Spanish Settlements. — By the year 1800 
there were only about 18,000 white settlers in the former Span- 
ish regions which are now included within the borders of the 
United States. Santa Fe, New Mexico, founded in 1605 ; 
San Antonio, Texas, in 1718 ; San Diego, California, in 1769 ; 
and San Francisco, in 1776, were petty villages. At many 
other points from the Gulf of Mexico north and west to the 
Pacific, there were Spanish missions and trading posts. 
Some Spanish trading ships occasionally skirted along the 
shores of California, bringing supplies to the missions and 
carrying away in exchange flour, silver, furs, and other 
products gathered by the settlers and the Indians. 

The Russians in the Northwest. — Although it seemed 
far away from the rest of the world in the eighteenth 
century, the Spaniards were not alone in their interest in 
the Pacific coast. The Russians came along very early. 
Exploring expeditions were sent out by Peter the Great, 
who had heard the Europeans talk about the New World. 
As the result of a voyage made in 1728, Vitus Behring, a 
Dane in the employ of Peter, gave his name to the straits 
separating North America and Asia. 

Russian fur traders were active all through the eighteenth 
century and, in addition to cruising along the Pacific coast, 
they penetrated inland a considerable distance. The 
otter herds of the North Pacific became almost as valuable 
to the Russians as the gold mines of Mexico and Peru were 
to the Spaniards. They built a fort at Sitka, Alaska. Being 
unable to grow grain there, they insisted on getting provi- 
sions from the Spanish settlements in California, although it 
was against the law of Spain. When the news of the Rus- 
sian operations reached the British, they, too, began to 



94 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

venture into the Pacific regions, looking for a share of the 
fur trade v/hich was making great fortunes. So it happened 
that even before the American Revolution, enterprising 
people were beginning to think about contesting with Spain 
for the possession of the Far West. It was a long time, 
however, before the Pacific coast was destined to come 
under the rule of the English-speaking people, and it was 
not until 1867 that Alaska was purchased from Russia by 
the United States. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. On a large map of North America (a relief-map, if one is 
available) locate the principal English settlements and the early 
French posts and settlements. 2. Trace on the map the route 
that the French explorers would take to reach the interior of the 
continent. 3. When the French explorers reached the Great 
Lakes in their canoes, what routes could they take to get to the 
Mississippi ? 4. Look now for the routes that explorers from 
the English settlements would have had to follow to reach the 
Mississippi Valley. Contrast the difficulties of these routes with 
the difficulties of the French route. 

II. I. What conditions in Europe combined with the geography 
of the regions settled in America to make the French and English 
colonies quite different .? What reasons led to the fact that the 
English colonists were more independent of the mother country 
than were the French colonists ? 

III. I. Name the four intercolonial wars in their order. Count- 
ing the four wars and the intervening years as marking a long 
struggle for supremacy in America, how many years did this strug- 
gle cover .? 2. How old was Washington when he first gained 
prominence in the French and Indian War? 3. What war in 
Europe was going on during the French and Indian War in Amer- 
ica .? What part did Spain take in it .? 4. Why was the present 
site of Pittsburgh an important point in the struggle of France 
and England for supremacy in America.? 5. State the principal 
provisions of the Treaty of Paris. 

IV. I. State the reasons for the lack of success in the Spanish 
government of the region now comprising California and the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 95 

southwestern states of the American union. How far did Spain 
progress in her period of ownership ? 2. What led the Russians 
to estabHsh settlements in the region now known as Alaska ? 

Review: With what important events or achievements is each 
of the following names to be associated : 

Marquette Washington 

La Salle Braddock 

DTberville Wolfe 

Andros Montcalm 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Champlain has been called the "Father of New France." 
Find out what he did to merit this title. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. i; Tappan's 
"American Hero Stories/' pp. 49-58; Hart's "Source Book," 
pp. 14-17; Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," pp. 153- 
160; Baldwin's "Discovery of the Old Northwest," pp. 22-34; 
Parkman's "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 83-124. 

2. Imagine yourself an explorer with either Marquette or 
La Salle. Be ready to give the class an interesting account of 
your explorations or of some important part of them and to trace 
the journeys on a map. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley," chs. i, ii; 
Hart's "Source Book," pp. 96-98; Baldwin's "The Discovery of 
the Old Northwest," pp. 131-180; Parkman's "Struggle for a 
Continent," pp. 186-222; Hasbrouck's "La Salle." 

3. Several French posts and settlements about the Great Lakes 
and in the Mississippi Valley were important during the inter- 
colonial wars and afterward. Locate the following and tell why, 
from its position, each would be likely to be important : Detroit, 
Mackinac Island, Vincennes (in what is now Indiana), Fort 
Kaskaskia (now Utica, near La Salle, lUinois). 

4. Tell the story of Braddock's defeat and the story of the 
capture of Quebec. 

See Hart's "Source Book," pp. 103-107; Hart's "Camps and 
Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 138-141 ; 146-150; Tappan's 
"American Hero Stories," pp. 1 17-135 ; Parkman's " Struggle for 
a Continent," pp. 382-450. 



96 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Outline for Review of the Periods of Exploration, Settle- 
ment, AND Colonization (Chapters I, II, III, IV, V) 

I. The Old-World background. 

A. Our debt to the Old World. 

B. Conditions in Europe in the fifteenth century. 

1. Differences between eastern and western Europe. 

2. Social classes in Europe : peasants; artisans; traders 

and merchants ; the clergy; nobles; kings. 

3. Development of trade; sea-route to Asia. 

II. Early explorations and conquests. 

A. The explorations of the Italians and the Portuguese. 

B. Columbus, Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, and Magellan. 

C. Spanish conquests in North and South America. 

D. Early French explorations. 

E. Early English explorations. 

F. The conflict between England and Spain. 

III. The settlement and development of the colonies. 

A. European conditions which led to American colonization. 

1. Religious changes. 

2. The cruel treatment of the peasants. 

3. The development of the art of printing. 

4. The new supply of gold from the Spanish possessions. 

B. The English colonies. 

1. The colonies first settled by English immigrants. 

a. Virginia. 

b. The New England colonies : Plymouth ; Massa- 

chusetts Bay; Connecticut; New Hampshire. 

c. Maryland ; Pennsylvania ; the Carolinas ; Georgia. 

2. Other settlements that became English colonies : 

New York ; New Jersey ; Delaware. 

3. Types of settlers in the English colonies. 

a. Immigrants seeking religious freedom. 

b. Immigrants seeking relief from poverty. 

c. Involuntary immigrants — slaves and criminals. 

d. Bond servants. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 97 

C. The French settlements and colonies. 

I . The settlements at Quebec, New Orleans, and St. Louis. 

D. The struggle between the French and the English for 

the control of the continent. 

1. Differences between the French and English colonial 

policies. 

2. The three early colonial wars. 

3. The final struggle: the French and Indian War in 

America ; the Seven Years' War in Europe. 

4. The Treaty of Paris and its results. 

E. The Spanish colonies in Louisiana and the Southwest. 

F. Russian settlements in the Northwest. 

IV. Important names which should be remembered in connection 
with one or more of the above topics : 

Explorers: Columbus, Da Gama, Magellan, Balboa, De Soto, 
Coronado, Verrazano, Carrier, Champlain, Marquette, La Salle, 
Hudson, Cabot, Raleigh. 

Colonial Pioneers: John Smith, William Bradford, John Endi- 
cott, Roger Williams, Thomas Hooker. 

Proprietors and Governors : Penn, Baltimore, Berkeley, Carteret, 
Lord De la Ware, Oglethorpe, Stuyvesant, Sir Edmund Andros. 

Soldiers: Standish, Washington, Braddock, Wolfe, Montcalm. 

Important dates: 1492; 1497; 1498; 1519-22; 1588; 1607; 
1613; 1619; 1620; 1754; 1763. 

British sovereigns during the periods of exploration, settlement, 
and colonization : 

Henry VII, 1485-1509 Charles II, 1660-1685 

Henry VIII, 1509-1547 James II, 1685-1688 

Edward VI, 1 547-1553 William and Mary, 1689-1694 

Mary, 1553-1558 William III, 1694-1702 

Elizabeth, 1558-1603 Anne, 1702-1714 

James I, 1603-1625 George I, 1714-1727 

Charles I, 1625-1649 George II, 1727-1760 
Puritan Revolution and Crom- George III, 1 760-1 820 
well, 1 649- 1 660 



CHAPTER VI 

LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA ON THE EVE 
OF THE REVOLUTION 

Never were the hopes of English statesmen higher than 
on the loth day of February, 1763, when the treaty which 
brought the French and Indian War to an end was duly 
ratified and sealed. " England never signed such a peace 
before,'' exclaimed George III. ** The country never saw 
so glorious a war or so honorable a peace," declared one of 
his great ministers. " The treaty," wrote another, " main- 
tains the maritime power, the interests, the security, the 
tranquillity, and the honor of England." 

Well might they rejoice. Spain had been humbled ; 
France had been humbled ; from the Ganges River to the 
Mississippi the British flag floated proudly over the empire 
of which Pitt had dreamed. Nothing remained but to 
weld these wide-flung dominions into closer union with the 
mother country, and to strengthen them by the army and 
navy against the renewed pretensions of the Spanish and 
the French. The task was inviting to patriotic EngHshmen, 
and nothing seemed easier; but they had not reckoned 
with the people of the North American colonies. 

I. The People and Their Occupations: Farming 

The Spirit of Freedom and Self-Reliance. — From tiny settle- 
ments along the Atlantic coast there had sprung a nation. 
The majority of white men were not servile tenants, tilling 

98 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 99 

the soil of feudal lords who in turn bowed to kingly power. 
They owned the ground they plowed and were proud of 
their freedom and independence. Those who were not 
landholders could look forward with confidence to acquir- 
ing homesteads of their own. 

Moreover, not all the people were inexperienced in the 
art of government. In every colony there was an assembly 
of representatives, chosen by men of property and ready 
to champion popular interests as against royal interference. 

Far and wide American merchants were building up trade, 
collecting the products of American farms, plantations, and 
forges, and exchanging them for the manufactures of Eng- 
land and the continent. In the shipyards of New England 
could be heard the ringing saw and hammer as swift saihng 
vessels were being built to range the seas in search of trade. 
A people so living and laboring, so full of industry and 
enterprise, were prepared to state the terms on which they 
would be welded into a closer union with the British empire. 

The Population of the Colonies. — There were in all 
about three miUion people in the colonies at the outbreak 
of the Revolution — not many, as measured by our modern 
standards, but more than a third of the population of Eng- 
land. Moreover, they were somewhat compactly settled 
along the Atlantic seaboard. Certainly a great majority 
of them lived within fifty or sixty miles of the coast. 

At a few points the frontier line had been pushed farther 
inland. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Dela- 
ware, New Jersey, and Maryland had been explored, laid 
out, and sparsely populated up almost to their present 
boundaries. In New York, settlements had spread up the 
Hudson Valley beyond Albany, which had become an im- 
portant town, and posts had been planted as far westward 
as Schenectady and Little Falls. The frontier Hne of Penn- 
sylvania did not extend far beyond Harrisburg, although 



lOO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

there was a little village of two or three hundred inhabit- 
ants at Pittsburgh. 

The Virginians, on the other hand, had been very active 
in taking up the western lands, for they had pushed up the 
river valleys to the foothills of the Appalachians. Scotch- 
Irish and Pennsylvania Germans had occupied the fertile 
Shenandoah Valley in great numbers. Still bolder pioneers 
had dared to brave the wilderness and the Indians of Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky. As early as 1769, that mighty 
hunter, Daniel Boone, accompanied by a few friends, had 
gone from his home in North Carolina through Cumberland 
Gap into the Blue Grass regions of Kentucky and had 
brought back news of a wonderful country beyond the 
mountains. In North and South Carolina and Georgia, 
the settlers had clung to the coast more closely than their 
neighbors in Virginia ; but the thin frontier line was slowly 
advancing into the uplands, and there were well-settled 
counties in the western regions of the Carolinas. 

Farming the Principal Occupation. — First of all it should be 
remembered that the foundation of American self-reliance 
was in the cheap land and the system of small farms owned 
outright. Nine tenths of the people got their living from 
the soil. The farmers and their families produced nearly 
all they needed. Foodstuffs came from the fields or the 
neighboring forests and streams. Hewn logs furnished the 
building materials, and houses and barns were cheaply and 
quickly built by the cooperation of neighbors, the settlers 
helping one another by " swapping work " as it was called. 
Grain was ground by mills driven by hand or water power. 
Tea, coffee, sugar, and salt were the only foodstuffs bought 
at towns. Even sugar was made from maple syrup in the 
North, and salt was obtained from sea water. Hardware 
and implements had to be bought, but forges sprang up all 
over the country to supply this demand. 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA lOi 



By hard labor, men, women, and children could secure 
the means of livelihood and live in security and in- 
dependence. A young married couple needed only a little 
cash to make a payment on some land, and in addition, as 
a writer of that time remarked, " a gun, some powder and 
shot, a few tools, and a plow." Many even refused to 
pay for land, and, plunging into the wilderness, bought it 
from the Indians or seized it in defiance of the law. 

The Meaning of Land-Ownership. — This employment of 
the masses on the land had a deep meaning for the future 




Houses and bams were cheaply and quickly built by the cooperation of neighbors. 

of America. The peasants of Europe were also engaged 
in tilling the soil ; but under conditions of life far different 
from those of the American farmer. They were, as we 
have seen, either serfs, bound to obey and pay the lord of 
the land, or agricultural laborers working for wages. Very 
few of them owned outright the fields they tilled. It was 
otherwise in the colonies. It is true that there were slaves 
on the southern plantations, tenants on the estates along 
the Hudson River, and bond servants in many colonies ; 



I02 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

but nowhere in the world had as large a proportion of the 
tillers of the soil been free, home-owning farmers. 

The founders of Massachusetts gave every " adventurer" 
who went to the colony fifty acres. This practice of giving 
small plots outright to settlers was common in New England 
and stimulated immigration to that section. In New 
York the landed aristocracy owned vast estates, which had 
been founded in Dutch times, or later by English royal grant. 
This land monopoly checked the spread of settlement until 
after the middle of the eighteenth century, when the Mohawk 
Valley was opened on the principle of granting land in small 
lots to owners and farmers. In Pennsylvania, William 
Penn tried to establish a system of large land-owners by 
selling five-thousand-acre estates at a lump sum and then 
demanding a perpetual rent. It was difficult, however, to 
secure tenants, and so Penn and the purchasers of large es- 
tates were forced to sell in small lots to freemen or to bond 
servants whose terms had expired. 

In the southern colonies, although the system of great es- 
tates prevailed along the coasts, the broken upland regions, 
where slavery was not profitable, were settled by farmers 
who bought plots outright at small sums. 

There was more or less competition among the colonies 
for settlers. The first governor of New Jersey offered to 
every man who had a musket, ammunition, and six months' 
provisions, at least one hundred fifty acres with an addi- 
tional grant for each servant or slave. 

Land-Owning and Liberty. — It was these land-owning 
citizens, " the embattled farmers," who made possible the 
American Revolution. As Jefferson said, the man who owns 
his own land and looks to the sun in heaven and to the 
labor of his hands for his sustenance, can have the spirit 
of independence which is the life breath of repubHcs. 

It was in the homes of these free farmers that the men 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 103 

came to have the courage to defy kings and aristocrats. 
They had to bow before no lords. They paid tribute to 
no barons of the soil. They loved the fields they owned 
and tilled and were determined to keep the produce of their 
labor. The man with the hoe, bowed by the weight of 
centuries, straightened up his shoulders, bared his head to 
the sun, drew deep the breath of liberty, and listened 
kindly to those who said that kings were enemies of human 
freedom. 

If it is true that the merchants started the American 
Revolution, it must be said that the farmers finished it. 
With their muskets in hand they went to the front, while 
their wives and children, accustomed to labor and independ- 
ence, managed the farms, molded bullets, wove cloth, and 
prepared supphes. Such is the story of the land. More 
than once in our history we shall have to come back to it. 



II. Manufacturing, Shipbuilding, and Commerce ; the 
Cities ; Travel 

The Beginnings of Manufacturing. — Busy as were the 
people with clearing and tilling the soil, they by no means 
neglected manufacturing, even though their achievements 
seem small to us in this day of huge industries. Every 
staple trade in the United States had its beginnings before 
the Revolution. Hemp, flax, cotton, and wool were raised 
in abundance, and the textile business had a good start 
before 1776. The Scotch-Irish in New Hampshire and in 
the southern colonies made fine linens. Cotton spinning and 
weaving kept pace with other industries. There were no great 
mill-towns, however, such as we now find in Massachusetts 
or South Carolina. The textile industry was scattered 
throughout the country among the homes of the people and 
was carried on chiefly by the women. 



104 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Manufacturing in the Home. — Although it is customary 
in our time to call attention to the large number of women 
and children employed in industries, it is important to re- 
member that they have always borne their full share of the 
burden. In colonial times, practically all of the coarse cloth 
was made by them on the home-made spinning wheel and 
loom, while only the finer fabrics were imported. 

So extensive had the domestic industry become by the 
opening of the eighteenth century that the royal governor 
of New York found in it the germs of independence. He 
said : 

The consequence will be that if they can cloath themselves 
once, not only comfortably but handsomely too, without the 
help of England, they who are already not very fond of submitting 
to Government would soon think of putting in Execution designs 
they had long harboured in their breasts. This will not seem 
strange when you consider what sort of people this Country is 
inhabited by. 

Parliament then passed the Woolen Act, prohibiting the 
exportation of woolen goods from the colonies and even from 
one colony to another for sale, and so prolonged for more 
than half a century the hold of English merchants on 
American trade. 

The Iron Industry. — The iron industry also had a fair 
start before the Revolution. It seems that every colony 
except Georgia had its iron works. Furnaces for smelting, 
foundries, rolHng mills, nail and wire mills, and factories for 
metallic wares, chains, anchors, pig iron, and bar iron 
could be found within a reasonable distance of almost any 
farming section. Even some export trade had developed, 
in spite of the laws made by the British government to 
keep down the iron industry in America. 

Shipbuilding. — Of all the more specialized industries in 
the colonies, shipbuilding was by far the most important. 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 105 

It is said that the first ship built in America was constructed 
at Manhattan by Captain Block early in the seventeenth 
century. Certainly by the middle of that century ship 
yards were scattered all along the coast of New England, 
wherever there were good harbors. Within a few years 
New York had become a prominent shipping center, and 
shipbuilding occupied several hundred men along the 
Hudson as far north as Poughkeepsie and Albany. At the 
time of the Revolution, however, the ports of Massachusetts 
led all the rest in this industry. Though the southern col- 
onies built many vessels, they were better known for the 
production of ship materials, " naval stores," hemp, tar, 
cedar, and fir, than for actual shipbuilding. 

The total output of vessels in all the colonies in 1769 did 
not equal the tonnage of a small modern ocean liner. And 
yet it gave the colonists a taste of power. They knew that 
they had an abundance of ship materials. They had learned 
to range the seas in search of profitable trade. Like the 
fledgling bird just from the nest, they had tried their wings 
and were delighted at their strength. 

The Merchants and Traders. — - Trade and transportation 
soon followed the growth of agriculture and industry, and 
on favorable harbors little cities grew up. Tobacco, rice, 
and ship materials from the southern states, lumber, grain, 
and salt pork from the middle colonies, and flour, salted 
fish, rum, and shoes from New England had to be carried to 
markets in the West Indies or Great Britain or Europe, 
and the finer imported stuff's brought back for distri- 
bution among the colonists. Tons of salt fish, especially 
cod, were taken every month to France and Spain. New 
England products were shipped to the West Indies and ex- 
changed for sugar, molasses, and dyestuff's ; the molasses 
was made into rum ; and the rum was carried to the coasts 
of Africa where it was exchanged for slaves, who were in 



I06 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



turn taken to the southern planters and to the West Indies. 
All this meant a growing class of shipowners, merchants, 
and traders who had to live in convenient centers for ship- 
ping, and so a few towns sprang up. 

The Principal Cities. — In 1763 Philadelphia, the largest 
city in the colonies, boasted a population of only about 
25,000. New York, Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, Hart- 



fe.'-^ 




,Mii|Hl.,„; 



From a photograph 

William Penn's House as It Appears in Fairmount Park To-day 

ford. Providence, and Norfolk were reckoned among the 
other chief cities, though they were merely overgrown 
country villages, according to our standards. In these 
towns, as on the great plantations of the South, there were 
a few stately homes of rich merchants and landed pro- 
prietors. Some of the well-to-do merchants rode in coaches 
and wore powdered wigs after the fashion of English gentle- 
men, while their wives were "resplendent in silks, satins, 
velvets, and brocades." 

Travel in Colonial America. — One thing that confined 
the location of towns mainly to good harbors was the back- 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 107 

ward state of the roads and the horrors of overland traveL 
It is almost impossible for us to imagine in these days the 
difficulties encountered in colonial times by those who had 
occasion to journey far from home. Trips from city to city 
along the coast were usually made in small sailing ves- 
sels. Sloops navigated the larger rivers — the Connecticut, 
Hudson, Delaware, Potomac, and James — while upon 
the smaller streams hand-propelled boats were extensively 
used. The rivers of New England were not navigable far 
inland, and as a result the construction of roads was more 
advanced in that region than in any of the other colonies. 

On the eve of the Revolution there had been opened 
the famous "Shore Road" from Boston through Providence, 
New London, and New Haven, to New York City. There 
was also an overland route from Boston, through Med- 
field, Hartford, and Litchfield, to New York. But both 
were merely widened trails which were almost impass- 
able during the rainy seasons. Regular stagecoach lines 
seem to have been established between Boston and New 
York in 1732, and between New York and Philadelphia 
in 1756. To the southward, where there were many 
navigable streams reaching inward to the plantations, most 
of the travel was by water routes and the construction 
of roads was sadly neglected. Except along the highways 
between the large towns wheeled vehicles were seldom seen. 
Travel off those lines was by horseback, and goods were 
carried by pack horses. 

HL Differences in Government between Northern 
AND Southern Colonies 

Conditions in New England. — The difficulties of travel 
shut the communities off from one another and tended to 
the development of peculiar ways of living in each locality 



io8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

— "provincialism," as it is called. There were other 
reasons, too, for the marked distinctions among the 
several sections. The character of the country and the 
climate made a great difference in the methods of settle- 
ment. In New England the winters were long and cold, 
and there were no wide and fertile valleys bordering deep 
and navigable streams. There the great plantation system 
of the South with slave labor could not be adopted. More- 
over the Indians were very troublesome, especially in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

For these and perhaps other reasons, the New England 
frontier was advanced by planting close together tiny 
settlements, called " towns," rather than by the rapid 
spread of huge estates like those in Virginia. A town in 
this sense included not merely the village in the center but 
the surrounding farms as well. It was similar to the " town- 
ship" in Indiana and the other middle western states. 
There was one important difference, however ; its boundaries 
were not regular as are those of the western townships, 
each of which is normally six miles square. Thus it came 
about that in the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, and New Hampshire, the town was the " unit " 
or smallest division of local government, and the colony 
was simply a collection of towns. 

Local Self-government in New England. The Town Meet- 
ing. — Each one of these little towns was governed by a 
**town meeting," in which every man entitled to vote could 
take part in discussing and determining what the town 
should do. At the town meeting, everything of impor- 
tance to the people was decided : the sizes of the houses 
to be built, the kinds of roofs to be put on the houses, the 
laying out of roads, and other matters of similar detail. 
There, also, the voters agreed on the amount of taxes to 
be laid on the inhabitants and chose the officers to carry 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 109 

on the business of government : the selectmen, constables, 
cowherds, poundkeepers, fence-viewers, and hog-reeves. 

The town meetings were little " schools of government 
and politics,^' in which the men of New England learned 
how to manage local matters. Instead of having a royal 
ojfficer sent down to tell them what to do and how to do it, 
they looked after their own affairs. In the debates at the 
town hall, they formed the habit of discussing questions of 
government, such as taxation and the election of officers. 
Men accustomed to transact pubhc business were not 
likely to look with favor upon a king's interference. 

Other Sources of the Spirit of Independence in Nezv Eng- 
land. — The New England churches also contributed to 
the spirit of political liberty. Each little town had its 
own Congregational church, which was controlled from 
within. The men in the church chose the parson and 
conducted the business of the church to suit themselves. 
They would listen only to the kind of sermons that they 
liked, and they would not allow the preacher to tell them 
exactly what to believe and to do. The clergymen, being 
well educated, were very influential men in the towns ; but 
they were by no means masters. 

New England independence was further increased by 
the fact that the inland regions were largely settled by 
dissatisfied townsmen from the older districts who did not 
like the sermons of the preachers, the management of the 
public business, or interference with their own ways of think- 
ing and talking. Criticism of the government and the 
church was always rife, and sometimes even the women 
took part in opposition to the town *' fathers " and the 
parson. 

One of them, Anne Hutchinson, wanted the right to 
believe what she pleased, and objected to the action of 
the preachers in meddling in town government and other 



no 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



affairs outside of church business. The ministers and the 
voters who had been accustomed to manage things in their 
own way were horrified at this " unwomanly " conduct. 
Thereupon she was driven out of Massachusetts *' for tra- 
ducing the ministers and their ministry/* and founded the 
town of Pocasset (Pawtucket) in Rhode Island. 




Anne Hutchinson Preaching in Her Home 

In view of all this debating about town government 
and church affairs, it is not surprising that the people of 
New England were very jealous of their rights. 

Larger " Units " of Government in the Middle Colonies. — 
In New York, the " patroon " system, introduced by the 
Dutch, made the government of many towns in the Hud- 
son Valley very diflPerent from that in New England. Some 
of the great estates were, in fact, complete villages with 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA iii 

thousands of acres of land attached, all owned by rich 
landlords. In general, however, New York was laid out 
after the fashion of Old England into counties. This was 
true of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The 
county thus became an important unit of government ; but 
at the same time the middle colonies retained the towns, 
where local meetings and elections nourished the spirit of 
independence. 

The "County" as the Unit in the South. — To the South, 
where the wide valleys and mild climate made possible 
the cultivation of immense plantations by slave labor, the 
settlers spread out rapidly on their broad estates, so that 
the area occupied was more thinly settled and far greater 
in extent than in New England. In the South, therefore, 
the county was the important ** unit " of local govern- 
ment. The sheriff, the justices of the peace, and the 
other county officers, were not elected by the voters, but 
were appointed by the royal governor. Nevertheless the 
southern people had their colonial assemblies, and were 
equally zealous with those of the North in the defense 
of their rights. Planters took the leadership, and the small 
farmers, *^ the yeomen " of the inland regions, supported the 
American cause by giving freely their blood and treasure. 

IV. Likenesses in Government between the North 
AND the South 

Few Differences in Language, Religion, and Law. — Notwith- 
standing all the differences among the colonies which 
tended to disunion, there were many things which helped to 
draw them together, (i) They had a common language and 
a common literature. (2) Although they were divided into 
many sects, they were nearly all Protestants. (3) From 
New Hampshire to Georgia one kind of law was applied 



112 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

— the common law of England — except as far as it was 
modified by local legislatures. Trial by jury and a cer- 
tain amount of religious toleration were found everywhere. 
(4) Finally, but by no means least important, was their 
similarity in the form of government. No matter whether 
the colony was royal, corporate, or proprietary, it had an 
assembly chosen by men of property. This assembly had 
a share in the making of laws, and no taxes could be collected 
without its consent. The right to vote was limited, and 
yet thefe grew up in every colony a large body of men 
who had a share in their own government, and who were 
accustomed to think of themselves as having an important 
part in the making of laws and laying of taxes. 
, "Representative" Government in the Colonies. — In the 
early days of settlement, when each colony was confined to 
a single post or community, its local affairs were managed 
by all those inhabitants entitled to a voice in government. 
When several settlements were added, it became difficult 
for the voters to meet in one place, and the " general " 
assembly was given up in favor of a " representative " as- 
sembly composed of delegates from each town, plantation, 
or county, as the case might be. Such a representative 
body was called in Virginia as early as 1619, and long before 
the Revolution every colony had its assembly, chosen by 
the voters. 

In all the colonies, except Pennsylvania and Georgia, 
the legislature consisted of two houses. In the New Eng- 
land colonies, except New Hampshire, both houses were 
elected ; while in New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, 
Virginia, North and South Carolina, the upper house con- 
sisted of a governor's council appointed by the king in 
England. 

Restrictions on the Right to Vote. — A large number of 
the adult inhabitants had no share in voting for representa- 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 113 

lives in the colonial assembly. Only those who had prop- 
erty or paid taxes could vote. A man could not vote in 
Virginia unless he owned a certain amount of land, or in 
Massachusetts unless he had a stated amount of land or 
other property of a fixed value. Moreover, the law often 
provided that the voter or officeholder must believe in 
certain religious doctrines. 

The idea that only property owners should vote had been 
brought from England. Only a few of the most radical 
had suggested that all men should be given the ballot, re- 
gardless of their wealth or religious opinions. 

It is estimated that about one fourth of the white males 
were denied a share in the governments of the colonies be- 
cause they did not hold the required amount of property. 
Strange to say, not more than one half, and frequently far 
less than one half of those entitled to vote seem to have 
taken the trouble to exercise the right. 

Limited Suffrage Led to the Growth of a ^^ Governing Glass T 
— The limitations on the right to vote and the indifference 
of many voters made it possible in nearly every colony for 
a minority of well-to-do and active men to form themselves 
into a "governing class.'* In the South, for instance, the 
rich plantation owners were the only persons who had the 
leisure and means necessary to travel and to take part in 
politics ; they ruled the southern colonies, particularly Vir- 
ginia. In Pennsylvania, it was the Quaker merchants and 
land-owners who ruled. In New York, the great feudal 
landlords of the Hudson Valley and the rich merchants and 
shipowners of New York City were the leaders in politics. 
In New England, the clergy, the lawyers, and the merchants 
made up what was known as the " natural aristocracy " ; 
but the free farmers composed a majority of the inhabit- 
ants and were active in political life, especially in town 
meetings. Some of those who were excluded from a share 



114 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

in public affairs were discontented with their lot, even before 
the Revolution; and, after independence was secured, they 
began to demand a share in the government. 

Contests between Royal Governors and Representative As- 
semblies. — The men who did have a voice in electing mem- 
bers of the colonial popular assembly, and who took part in 
the elections, were very stanch in contending that they had 
a right to transact the business of the colony in their own 
way. They wanted to make laws and to tax themselves as 
they pleased ; but there were several difficulties in the way. 
In none of the colonies, except Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut, were the governors elected by popular vote. In 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, 
Virginia, and the other southern colonies, the governor was 
appointed by the king; in the proprietary colonies — • 
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware — the proprietor 
either acted as governor himself or selected some one to act 
in his stead. 

There were often spirited contests between the governor 
and the popular assembly. In these contests the voters 
took a lively interest. They learned that by resisting 
the king's governor they could frequently get their own 
way. Often they would refuse to vote any taxes until 
the governor would promise to grant them some favor 
which they demanded. In the struggles over colonial gov- 
ernment, and in the meetings in the towns, the men of the 
colonies were being prepared to assert and maintain their 
complete independence. 



V. Education in the Colonies ; Summary 

There was, in colonial times, no common system of public 
schools ; there were few important books on American life, 
and no newspapers and magazines with circulations extend- 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 



115 



ing from New Hampshire to Georgia. Newspapers there 
were, it is true, in Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadel- 
phia, Charleston, and some other cities ; but they were 
small sheets which had only a few hundred readers in the 
immediate neighborhood. 

Elementary Education Strongly Religious. — The English 
colonies had been founded long before the idea of free public 



■-^v^fe 




^^ 



Sl^^> 



&m^ 



fri f^ShmS^ 






IF* If- B 




Harvard College in 1776 



From an old print 



schools had taken any root in Europe ; but one of the chief 
demands of each sect in America was the right to instruct 
all its youth in the religious doctrines which it held to be 
true. In order that their children might not wander from 
the faith of their fathers, the members of these sects laid 
great emphasis on teaching young people to read, so that 
they could learn the catechism and study the Bible. As a 
result many schools for teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, 
and religious doctrines sprang up. This was especially true 
of New England. 



Ii6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Colleges. — There were few colleges in colonial times 
and they were Hkewise designed to advance the interests 
of religious sects : the Puritan colleges, Harvard and Yale 
in New England ; the Episcopal colleges, King's in New 
York (now Columbia University), and William and Mary in 
Virginia ; The College of New Jersey (now Princeton) under 
Presbyterian auspices ; and the independent University of 
Pennsylvania founded by Benjamin Franklin. In the 
South schools and colleges were not so common. Well-to- 
do planters had tutors for their children and sent their sons 
to England to complete their education. 



Summary: America Prepared for Independence. — When 
we think of the humble beginnings, we cannot repress sur- 
prise that it was possible for the Americans to carry through 
the Revolution against the power that had humbled Spain 
and France, (i) The difficulties of travel and communica- 
tion made it hard to unite the colonies and get them to pull 
together. (2) The long distances made it difficult to collect 
troops speedily at strategic points and often defeated the 
best-laid plans. (3) The backward state of industries and 
business taxed the skill of the patriots in finding money and 
supplies for the army. 

And yet there were elements of strength, (i) Accustomed 
to a large degree of self-government in their towns and colo- 
nial legislatures, the men had confidence in their powers of 
management. (2) Knowing that they could build ships as 
large and swift as any that sailed the seas, they gathered 
courage for their contest with Great Britain. (3) With more 
home-owning tillers of the soil and with more freedom of 
education and discussion than any European nations en- 
joyed, they had more independence of spirit and more 
liberty in living than did the masses beyond the seas. 



LIFE, LABOR, AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA 117 

America was prepared to challenge kings, princes, and 
lords, and to prepare the way for the best democracy, 
with all its Hmitations and errors, that the world had up 
to that time beheld. The strength was in the life and 
labor of the people. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Compare the farmers of America in colonial times with the 
peasant-farmers of Europe. 2. In what ways does the ownership 
of his land by the farmer develop his spirit of self-reliance and in- 
dependence ? 3. In what parts of the southern colonies were 
the farm lands usually owned by the men who tilled them ? 

II. I. How was manufacturing carried on in the colonies? 
2. Name the principal manufactured goods. 3. Why were the 
northern colonies more actively engaged in ship building than the 
southern colonies? 4. In what colonies was commerce impor- 
tant and with what parts of the world was foreign commerce 
carried on ? What were the principal goods exported and im- 
ported ? 5. How did people travel in colonial times ? 

III. I. Make a list of the leading differences in surface and 
climate between New England and Virginia. 2. Why have the 
New England town meetings been called "schools of govern- 
ment and politics" ? 3- In what way did the organization of 
the churches in New England help to develop the spirit of inde- 
pendence ? 4. Who was Anne Hutchinson? Why is her name 
remembered ? 5. Make a list of the principal differences between 
the government of the New England colonies and the government 
of the middle colonies. 

IV. I. In what ways were the colonies similar? 2. What is 
meant by representative government ? 3. What differences would 
there be in our government to-day if the right to vote were deter- 
mined by a "property ''standard ? 4. In what different ways were 
the governors chosen in the various colonies ? In w^hat way did 
the voters sometimes control the "royal" governors? 

V. I. Why did the colonists, especially in New England, place 
so much importance upon teaching children to read ? 

Review: Locate on an outline map of the United States {a) the 
western limits of the settlements and {b) the principal cities of 
the colonies at the close of the Seven Years' War. 



Il8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Problems for Further Study 

1. In your neighborhood do the farmers till their own lands or 
are the farms generally worked by renters ? Can the renters in 
your neighborhood look forward to owning the land that they 
till ? Compare the opportunities for land-ownership to-day with 
those of colonial times. 

2. Give an account of the difficulties of travel both by land and 
by water in colonial days. 

See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," pp. 187- 
206; Hart's *' Colonial Children," pp. 67-70. 

3. Imagine yourself a colonial schoolboy. Be ready to tell the 
class what you would have studied, what kind of teachers you 
would have had, and how you would have been taught. 

See Hart's " Colonial Children," Part VII, especially pp. 206-207 ; 
210-215 ; 218-232; Eggleston's "Our First Century," pp. 192-200. 

4. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why most of the 
English settlements were within fifty miles of the Atlantic coast. 

See Semple's "American History and its Geographic Condi- 
tions," ch. iii; Brigham's "Geographic Influences in American 
History," ch. iii. 



CHAPTER VII 

CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

The close of the French and Indian War marked a new 
epoch in America. Until that day, the English colonists 
had enjoyed a wide liberty in the management of their 
affairs. It is true that many laws restricting their trade had 
been passed by Parliament, but they were not enforced. 
During much of the seventeenth century, when the founda- 
tions of all the colonies except Georgia were being laid, the 
English at home were in the throes of a revolution. In 
1649 they beheaded their king, Charles I, and in 1688 they 
drove out another king, James II. At the opening of the 
eighteenth century and for a long time afterward. Great 
Britain was involved in European wars which taxed the 
energies and absorbed the interest of her statesmen. 

I. England Begins to Control Colonial Trade 

After 1763 the British government was in a much better 
position to bring the colonists under control. Spain had 
been reduced to so low an estate that she was not to be 
taken seriously as a rival in the New World, and France 
had been driven from the continent of North America alto- 
gether. Moreover, at this time England was at peace at 
home. The government no longer feared the outbreak of 
another revolution. The British navy was triumphant at 
sea and King George III was secure on his throne. 

119 



I20 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The British Imperial PoHcy. — In other words, the day had 
come for putting into effect what was known as an " im- 
perial colonial policy." This meant keeping English trade 
in Enghsh hands and excluding the Dutch, French, Spanish, 
and all other peoples from profiting by it in any way. It 
meant also building up the Enghsh merchant-marine, so as 
to increase the number of Enghsh sailors and thus make 
possible a navy that could continue to " rule the waves." 
This imperial policy led the British government to interfere 
more and more with the affairs of the colonists, with a view 
to strengthening the British empire and enlarging British 
trade throughout the world. 

The Objectionable Laws. — Great Britain did not sud- 
denly decide upon this policy in 1763. A long time before, 
she had begun to enact a long series of laws, including 
the following measures : 

1. Navigation Laws. These laws provided that all prod- 
ucts grown or manufactured in Asia, Africa, or America 
must be imported into England or Enghsh colonies only in 
Enghsh ships ; also that European goods could be carried 
to the colonies only in English ships, and not then unless 
they were first taken to England. 

2. Trade Laws, requiring colonists to sell their tobacco 
and some other produce to Enghsh merchants only, even 
if better prices could be secured elsewhere. 

3. Acts Forbidding Manufactures. In order to compel 
the colonists to buy from English manufacturers, they were 
forbidden to produce in America, for the purpose of export 
to neighboring towns and colonies or abroad, a number of 
commodities, such as fur caps, steel, and woolen goods. 

The Stubbornness of George III. — George III, who came 
to the throne in 1760, was willful and arbitrary in his govern- 
ment, and stubborn in his views. Parliament, which made 
the laws that stirred the Americans to arms, represented 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 121 

only a few thousand voters. The mass of the people had 
no voice in the government. By bribery and other means 
George III was always able to get a majority in Parliament 
in favor of his plans. In all this he was the spokesman for 
a small but powerful party of " imperialists " in England, 
who were bent on binding the colonies to the mother country 
and using their trade and commerce for the benefit of Brit- 
ish manufacturers and merchants. 

Enforcement of Old Laws and Enactment of New Laws 
after 1763. — Although most of the trade laws had been 
on the books a long time, they had not been strictly 
enforced. After 1763, however, Great Britain, being at 
peace with the rest of the world, and having her warships 
ready for action against smugglers, set about the task of 
bringing the American colonies into closer union with the 
home country. The British territory in North America had 
been greatly increased and more troops were needed to de- 
fend it. There was always some danger that France and 
Spain might attempt to recover what they had lost. It 
seemed the proper thing, therefore, to the British govern- 
ment to keep a larger army in the colonies and to call on 
the inhabitants to pay a part of the cost of defense. 

New Policy of Great Britain. — Among the many ways in 
which the British sought to strengthen the empire and se- 
cure a firmer grip on the colonies were the following : 

1. The trade and navigation laws mentioned above were 
enforced by having warships constantly searching the coast 
waters for smugglers who brought goods into the colonies 
in violation of the laws. These smugglers were tried in an 
*' admiralty" court where no jury was used. This was 
done because it was found that, when smugglers were tried 
in the ordinary courts, juries composed of neighbors refused 
to find the accused guilty of the charge. 

2. Another cause of grievance was the order of the king 



122 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

in 1763 forbidding colonists to go into the western country 
and buy land from the Indians, or to settle there without 
the consent of the royal government. The Americans re- 
garded this as an infringement of their right to go where 
they pleased and make homes for themselves. 

3. In addition to an old tax on sugar and molasses bought 
anywhere except in the British West Indies, special duties 






/6 ne\ 






Stamp Act Stamps 
They ranged in cost from a penny to several pounds. 



were laid in 1764 on many French, Spanish, and Portuguese 
articles imported into the colonies. 

4. In 1765 a stamp tax was laid on a large number of 
papers and documents used in the colonies. This was the 
first time in the history of America that the British 
government had imposed an "internal" tax on the inhabit- 
ants directly, and it was resented, as all new taxes are 
usually disliked by those who have to pay them. The law 
provided that stamps ranging in cost from a penny to several 
pounds should be placed on newspapers, almanacs, playing 
cards, deeds, licenses, college diplomas, etc. 



II. The Protests of the Colonies against Taxation 
WITHOUT Representation 

Opposition to the Stamp Act. Virginia. — Although the 
money raised from the stamp duty was to be spent in the 
colonies for their defense, the Americans objected to the 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



123 



tax because it was imposed upon them without their con- 
sent by a padiament three thousand miks away in London, 
where they had no representatives. It seemed unbearable. 
In the Virginia House of Burgesses (see page iii) Patrick 
Henry made a fiery speech against the stamp tax. Moved 
by his eloquence, the members passed resolutions denouncing 
the law and declaring that the people of that colony had 
certain " rights " which could not be taken from them, 
including the right to be taxed and governed only by their 
own assembly of elected representatives. 

The Stamp Act Congress. — Far away to the North, 
Massachusetts also was stirred by the stamp tax. There 
Samuel Adams took the lead. James Otis, "a flame of 



4llii:f: 





■€£1 








From a pamhng by Robert Reid 

The Speech of James Otis 

fire," eloquently attacked British policy as illegal and un- 
just, and flung himself into the fray. The lower house 
of the legislature issued a call to all the colonies to send 
delegates to a congress at New York City. Nine colonies 
responded to the call, and the famous " Stamp Act Con- 
gress " met in New York in October, 1765. 



124 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

This Congress passed a set of resolutions condemning the 
Stamp Act and other laws interfering with colonial trade; 
and declared that the colonists could be lawfully taxed only 
by their representatives in their own legislatures. It was 
added also that the colonists could not, from the nature of 
the circumstances, be represented in the distant British 
ParUament. These resolutions, therefore, were a protest 
against the British interference and a declaration that the 
colonists would not endure taxation by ParUament. 

The Colonists Give Other Evidences of Disapproval. — 
Those who were opposed to the stamp tax did not 
stop at passing resolutions. In a number of the larger 
towns, mobs collected in the streets and shouted that they 
would cram the stamps down the throats of the agents who 
attempted to sell them. The houses of some of the agents 
were looted. In Philadelphia a document duly stamped as 
required by the British government was pubHcly burned 
to show the contempt of the people for the tax. At an- 
other town an agent was seized by a mob and compelled 
to shout at the top of his voice, " Liberty, property, and 
no stamps." 

The colonists, in addition to protesting and rioting, re- 
sorted to a scheme still more dangerous to British mer- 
chants. They agreed to "boycott" Enghsh goods; that is, 
not to buy anything from Enghsh merchants. This "non- 
importation agreement," as it was known, seriously injured 
British trade and brought the merchants to their knees 
begging for mercy. 

The Stamp Act Repealed; the Townshend Acts Passed. — 
As a result of all this disturbance. Parliament decided to 
give up its plan, and in 1766 it repealed the obnoxious 
law. The colonists rejoiced when they heard that the Stamp 
Act was no more ; but they rejoiced too soon, for the repeal 
did not mean that the British government intended to give 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 125 

up its policy of controlling colonial trade and manufactures. 
On the contrary, in denouncing the stamp tax in the British 
Parliament, WiUiam Pitt, who was considered a friend of 
America, distinctly said : ** We may bind their trade, con- 
fine their manufactures, and exercise every power whatso- 
ever, except that of taking money out of their pockets with- 
out their consent." 

The very next year, 1767, the British Parliament passed 
three important laws, known as the Townshend Acts, all 
of which angered the colonists, (i) One of them ordered 
the legislature of New York not to do any further business 
until it had provided supplies for British soldiers quartered 
there. (2) Another created a board of officers at the port 
of Boston to see that the trade laws were enforced. 
(3) The third laid a small tax on glass, red and white lead, 
paper, tea, and paints. At the same time a " Declaratory 
Act " was passed asserting the right of Parhament to control 
the colonies "in all matters.'' 

The excitement which had been aroused by the Stamp 
Act was all stirred up again. Massachusetts and Pennsyl- 
vania protested against the laws, and colonial merchants 
renewed the boycott on British goods. It was thought 
that the vigorous measures which had forced the British 
government to repeal the Stamp Act would compel it to 
give up the enforcement of the trade and navigation laws. 
This time the rebellious colonists were wrong in their guess. 

The "Boston Massacre." — The enactment of the Town- 
shend laws brought on riots in the colonies, such as had fol- 
lowed the Stamp Act. When troops began to arrive from 
England to enforce the law, mobs in the streets jeered them. 
In October, 1768, the royal governor of Massachusetts 
lamented that " many of the common people have been 
in a frenzy and talked of dying in defence of their liberties 
and have spoke and printed what is highly criminal." 



126 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

On the night of March 5, 1770, a crowd, collected in the 
streets of Boston, began to jostle some soldiers on duty and 
to call them names. Things went from bad to worse until 
" some boys and young fellows " began to throw snowballs 




From an engraving by Paul Revere 
The " Boston Massacre " stirred the whole country from New Hampshire to Georgia. 

and stones, and the soldiers fired on the crowd, killing five 
and wounding half a dozen more. This " Boston Mas- 
sacre " stirred the whole country from New Hampshire to 
Georgia. 

The Tea Tax; the Boston "Tea Party." — In 1770 ParHa- 
ment repealed all the taxes laid by the Townshend Acts 
except the duty of three pence a pound on tea, which 
was kept principally to show the colonists that Parlia- 
ment still claimed the right to tax them without their 
consent. This encouraged smugglers to bring in tea from 
Holland without paying the tax, and by unlawful methods 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



127 



thousands of pounds were brought into Boston as well as 
other ports along the Atlantic coast. Then the British 
government, to help the East India Company sell large 
stocks of tea on hand in London, made it possible for the 
Company to send tea to America at an especially low rate. 
Thus the Company could readily undersell even the Bos- 




The Boston Tea Party, at which a Cargo of Tea was Dumped into 
THE Boston Harbor 

ton merchants who had smuggled Dutch tea, or had bought 
it in the regular manner and paid full duties. 

The merchants were enraged not so much at the three 
pence tax on the tea, as at the favor shown by the British 
government to the East India Company. They feared the 
growth of a great monopoly that would mean their ruin. 
Stirred by this danger, a band of men dressed as Indians 
boarded, in December, 1773, the vessels which brought the 
hated cargoes, and dumped the tea into the Boston 
harbor. 



128 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Colonists Punished for Their Resistance. — In- 
stead of yielding to this show of force on the part of the 
colonists the British government resorted to measures 
which proved that it was in earnest, (i) It ordered the 
legislatures of several colonies to dissolve, and the legislators 
to go home and stay there until called by the royal author- 
ities. (2) It passed the Boston Port Bill, which closed the 
port and destroyed all of the ocean trade that centered 
there. (3) It gave the governor of Massachusetts, who was 
appointed by the king, the power to send to England or 
another colony for trial any official accused of committing 
murder while enforcing the laws. (4) It forbade the people 
of Massachusetts to hold town meetings without the consent 
of the governor, except to elect officers. 

III. The Crisis Reached 

The First Continental Congress (1774). — The answer 
of the Americans to the strong measures on the part of 
the British government was a general Congress composed 
of agents from every colony except Georgia, who met in 
Carpenters' Hall, in Philadelphia, on September 5, 1774. 
This national assembly, like the Stamp Act Congress of 
1765, was called by the lower house of the Massachusetts 
legislature. It was attended by fifty-six delegates. 

The Congress did two important things : it issued a 
declaration setting forth the grievances and rights of the 
colonists ; and it formed a general non-importation or 
boycott association against British goods. 

I. In the declaration of rights, it protested against the 
recent objectionable laws of the British government. It 
announced that the colonies had the right to tax them- 
selves ; to make laws for their internal government ; to 
assemble peaceably ; to petition the government and to state 




The Colonies and the Extent of Settlement (see Map, P. 196) on the 
Eve of the Revolution 
K 129 



I30 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

their grievances ; to be free from a standing army in time 
of peace; and to enjoy trial by jury. 

2. In the non-importation agreement it was provided 
that no EngHsh goods should be imported or sold, and that 
committees chosen by the voters in every town, city, and 
county should enforce the boycott. Many a merchant was 
tarred and feathered for selling English goods in violation 
of the agreement. 

Before adjourning, the Continental Congress called a 
second Congress to meet at. Philadelphia the following year. 

Committees of Correspondence. — In the towns, counties, 
cities, and colonies committees of revolutionists were 
formed, which assumed direction of the struggle against 
Great Britain. The committees corresponded with one 
another and kept ahve the spirit of revolution, while serv- 
ing as valuable aids in upholding the government. 

The Americans Firm in Their Resistance. — It was clear by 
1774 that the more determined Americans were resolved to 
push the conflict to a finish, if the British government did not 
recede from its position. And recede it could not without 
abandoning a policy which promised to bring great profits 
to the English merchants and manufacturers and to 
strengthen the British empire. The truth was that 
Americans could build ships as big and fast as any that 
sailed the seas; their merchants had pushed out in every 
direction into Europe and Asia in search of trade; they 
had immense natural resources ; they could grow cotton and 
flax and make cloth for themselves. , Therefore they were 
in no mood to see their enterprise restricted, their chances 
to gather trade cut away, by laws made by a distant Parlia- 
ment for the benefit of Great Britain. 

A people with such courage, industry, and enterprise as 
the American colonists, with a vast country at their disposal, 
could not long endure such laws as those by which the 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 131 

British Parliament sought to bind them. They proposed to 
reap the reward of their own labor. Somebody had to give 
way, either the British government, representing the British 
merchants, manufacturers, and traders, or the American col- 
onists. As there was a deadlock, and neither side would 
yield to petitions or arguments, resort to arms was tried. 

English Friends of America. — Some of the most distin- 
guished men in England — Pitt, Burke, and Fox — ^ raised 
their voices in opposition to the measures that were taken 
against the American colonists. 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. — First among these was 
William Pitt (Earl of Chatham) under whose leadership 
the borders of the British empire had been widened during 
the Seven Years' War. When the news of resistance to the 
Stamp Act reached the mother country, he was stretched 
upon a sick bed ; but he declared that, if he could " crawl or 
be carried " to the House of Lords, he would there " de- 
liver his mind and heart upon the state of America." And 
he did. With passion and bitterness he poured scorn upon 
the heads of the men who enacted and defended the Stamp 
Act: 

On a question that may mortally wound the freedom of three 
millions of virtuous and brave subjects beyond the Atlantic 
Ocean, he said, I cannot be silent. America being neither 
really nor virtually represented in Westminster [Parliament], 
cannot be held legally, or constitutionally, or reasonably subject 
to obedience to any money [tax] bill of this kingdom. . . . The 
Americans are the sons ... of England. As subjects they are 
entitled to the common right of representation and cannot be 
bound to pay taxes without their consent. . . . The commons of 
America, represented in their several assemblies, have ever been 
in possession of this, their constitutional right, of giving and 
granting their own money. They would have been slaves if they 
had not enjoyed it. . . . The gentleman tells us America is obstinate; 
America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice that America has 
resisted. 



132 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Ten years later, the Earl of Chatham once more startled 
the House of Lords by demanding the speedy removal of 
British troops from the town of Boston. Again he pleaded 
for a policy of conciliation and warned the government 
that it could not break the power of united America : 

It is not repealing a piece of parchment that can restore 
America to our bosom ; you must repeal her fears and her resent- 
ments; and then you may hope for her love and gratitude. 
Insulted with an armed force posted at Boston, irritated with a 
hostile array before her eyes, her concessions, if you could force 
them, would be insecure. But it is more than evident, that united 
as they are, you cannot force them to your unworthy terms of 
submission. 

Edmund Burke. — While Pitt, with noble eloquence, 
was pleading in the House of Lords for measures of 
moderation and peace, an orator no less eminent for his 
talents and courage, Edmund Burke, was laboring in the 
House of Commons to soften the heart of the obstinate 
government. In two speeches which take their places 
among the splendid classics of the English tongue — 
one on "American Taxation" and the other on "Concilia- 
tion with America " — Burke urged counsels of justice 
and generosity. 

He sketched the rise of the American colonies from little 
hamlets and posts to prosperous colonies and a great nation. 
He rejoiced in the courage and achievement of English peo- 
ple beyond the sea. He spoke of them not as aliens and 
enemies but as countrymen and brothers. He took pride 
in their spirit of liberty. Then he solemnly warned those 
responsible for the policy of taxation and repression that 
harshness and stubbornness would drive Americans into 
breaking the empire. He had little patience with those 
who spoke of the " right " of Parliament to tax the col- 
onists, saying: 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 133 

The question with me is not whether you have a right to 
render your people miserable but whether it is not to your interest 
to make them happy. It is not what a lawyer tells me I may 
do, but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. 

It was the advocates of strong measures who triumphed 
in Parliament and in the councils of King George. " My 
Lords/' exclaimed Lord Grower, on hearing Pitt's argu- 
ment for moderation and reconciliation, " let the Ameri- 
cans talk about their natural and divine rights ! their 
rights as men and citizens 1 their rights from God and 
nature ! I am for enforcing these measures." Rejecting all 
pleas for justice and reason, they placed their hopes in 
armed force. Little did they understand the task that lay 
before them. 

The Americans Not Wholly United. — ^As Englishmen at 
home were divided over the policy to be pursued in the 
treatment of the colonists, so Americans themselves were 
by no means all agreed on resistance to the mother country. 
Some Americans were high tempered and favored quick and 
unrelenting opposition, even to the point of fighting for 
their liberties. Others disapproved the measures of the 
British government, but contented themselves with remon- 
strating against them and petitioning the king. 

There were many highly respectable citizens of each com- 
munity who regarded the agitation against the Trade Acts 
and the Stamp Tax as the work of " low demagogues " and 
" worthless fellows " who deserved imprisonment for resist- 
ing their king. Such citizens looked with alarm on the 
growth of democratic government in America. A clergy- 
man in New England prayed that " the monstrously pop- 
ular constitution " of Connecticut be altered in such a 
way as to reduce the power of the voters. He rejoiced 
in the attempts of the king and Parliament to bring all 
the colonies under '* one form of government," and wanted 



134 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

to see bishops of the EstabHshed Church put in power in 
every colony and all charter governments made directly 
dependent on the king. Thousands of these citizens, 
'' Tories/' as they were later called by the Revolutionists, 
remained loyal to the king to the end. Many lost their 
property and were driven out of the country. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why did England pay more attention to the American 
colonies after 1763 ? Why was she anxious to control the trade 
of colonies ? Why were the colonies forbidden to do much manu- 
facturing ? Why were settlements toward the west discouraged ^ 
2. State the policies of the English government which the colo- 
nists found especially objectionable. 3. To-day duties are 
levied on many kinds of goods imported into the country and 
the Federal government has sometimes required stamps to be 
placed on certain documents, such as wills, contracts, deeds, and 
bank checks. What are the differences between these forms of 
taxation and the import and stamp taxes against which the colo- 
nists rebelled ? 

II. I. What was the ''Stamp Act Congress" and why did it 
assemble .? In what other ways did the colonists protest against 
the stamp taxes ? With what results .? 2. What were the 
"Townshend Adts" ? What was the effect of these laws upon 
the colonists ? 3. Why did the English government retain the 
tax upon tea after the other objectionable features of the Town- 
shend Acts had been repealed ? Could the English government 
be justified in retaining the tax for this purpose .? 

III. I. Why was the first Continental Congress called .? What 
two important things did it do .? 2. What reasons can you give 
for the statement that the American colonies did not revolt against 
the English people but rather against the English government .? 

Reviezu: i. In what ways do you think that the English 
government might have avoided war with the colonists ? 
2. What is "taxation without representation" ? Is any one who 
is not represented now taxed in the United States ? 



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 135 



Problems for Further Study 

1. The following American patriots were prominent leaders 
in the colonies during the years just preceding the Revolution. 
Select one of these men for special study and prepare a talk for 
the class which will tell what this man did to help the American 
cause at this critical time: Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, 
Patrick Henry, James Otis. 

See Sparks's " The Men Who Made the Nation," chs. i and ii 
(Franklin and Adams) ; Southworth's *' Builders of Our Coun- 
try," Book I, pp. 208-225 (Franklin) ; Book II, pp. 1-23 (Henry 
and Adams) ; Brooks's " Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 109- 
126 (Otis and Adams); Dudley's "Benjamin Franklin." 

2. Imagine yourself living in Boston during the period treated 
in this chapter. Describe what you might have seen and heard 
concerning the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. 

See Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 162- 
166; Hart's "Source Book," p. 137; Sparks's "The Men Who 
Made the Nation," pp. 56-60, 64-69. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 

I. The Beginning of the Conflict 

Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775). — The first shot 
of the Revolutionary War was fired in 1775. In April of 
that year, General Gage, then in command of a large force 
of British regulars at Boston, sent troops to Concord with 
orders to destroy the military stores which the Americans 
had collected there. Little did he dream of the fateful 
consequences as the British soldiers set out on their march 
in the dead of night. He thought it would be a simple 
matter, dispatched with great secrecy, but the patriots in 
Boston were alert and watchful. Lanterns, hung out in 
the tower of the old North Church, flashed far and wide 
the signal that the British were coming, and Paul Revere 
galloped along the road ahead of them rousing the farmers ! 

So through the night rode Paul Revere; 

And so through the night went his cry of alarm 

To every Middlesex village and farm, 

A cry of defiance and not of fear, 

A voice in the darkness, a knock on the door. 

And a word that shall echo for evermore ! 

When, on the morning of April 19, the British soldiers 
reached Lexington on their way to Concord, they found 
drawn up on the village green a band of the American 
militia — known as " minutemen," because they were 

136 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 



137 



prepared to go out at a minute's notice to defend their 
homes. The British commander ordered them to disperse, 
but they refused. Then firing began and a few minutemen 
were killed and wounded. " There on the green, lay in 
death the grey haired and the young; the grassy field was 
red * with the innocent blood of their brethren slain.* '* 




The Retreat from Concord 



From an old print 



From behind hedges, trees, and stone walls the " minutemen " poured shot into the 

retreating British. 



With cheers of triumph the British soldiers marched off 
to Concord, destroyed military stores, rifled some houses, 
and prepared to return. By this time the whole country- 
side was aroused. Men and boys came running, singly 
and in bands, to the road that led from Concord to Boston. 
At Concord Bridge near the village "the shot heard around 
the world " was fired, giving the signal for a general conflict. 



138 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

From behind hedges, trees, and stone walls they poured shot 
into the retreating British all the way along the road until 
the tired and harassed survivors reached Charlestown where 
they were safe under guns of the battleships. Thus, without 
any previous design, the war for independence was begun. 
The British had provoked it by the march to Concord. 
The minutemen had answered. 

The Nation Aroused. — When blood was once shed con- 
ciHation was more difficult than ever. Only a few months 
before the battle of Lexington and Concord, Benjamin 
Franklin, representative of the colonies in England, had 
said to Americans friend, Pitt, " I never heard from any 
person the least expression of a wish for a separation." In 
October of the previous year, Washington had written, " No 
such thing as independence is desired by any thinking man 
in America." But after April 19, 1775, the tide of opinion 
began to change. The news of that day spread like wild- 
fire through Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, 
and Connecticut, up the Hudson Valley, down the coast 
through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, to Charleston 
and Savannah. 

From all New England, the minutemen with rifles and 
powder horns began to pour out along the highways and 
trails to Boston, and in a few days the British troops in 
that city were completely surrounded. Everywhere, mid- 
dle and southern colonies, the patriots were preparing for 
war in behalf of their liberties. In Virginia, Patrick Henry 
had already called upon his countrymen : 

The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our 
ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in 
the field. Why stand we here idle .? . . . Is life so dear or peace 
so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? 
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may 
take ; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 



139 



In a few weeks the Second Continental Congress, repre- 
senting all the colonies, met at Philadelphia. Great work 
lay before it. It was to declare independence, raise armies, 
make treaties with European powers, and wage war to the 
end. 




The Speech of Patrick Henry 

" I know not what course others may take ; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me 

death." 



Phases of the War. — The long war thus begun may be 
divided for the sake of clearness into the following phases : 

1. The Northern Campaigns 

2. The Middle States Campaigns 

3. The Southern Campaigns 

Although fighting was going on frequently in various parts 
of the country at the same time, it seems best to consider 
the conflicts in the several regions separately. 



140 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



II. The Northern Campaigns and the Declaration 
OF Independence 

The Siege of Boston. — The running fight begun at Con- 
cord ended in shutting the British army up in Boston. As 
you will discover by looking at the map, Boston was then 
confined to a piece of territory which was almost an island, 
being connected with the mainland only by a narrow strip 
of sandy beach. To the northward lay the peninsula of 
Charlestown, on which there were two heights, Breed*s Hill 




Boston and Vicinity 

and Bunker Hill. To the southward there was another 
peninsula where Dorchester Heights overlooked the city of 
Boston. The British soldiers fortified the narrow strip of 
land connecting the city with the mainland. The Ameri- 
cans steadily grew in numbers as the militiamen flocked in 
from every direction ; and under the command of General 
Joseph Warren they occupied the heights in Charlestown. 

The Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775). — On June 17, 
they were discovered busily fortifying one of the Charles- 
town hills. The British soldiers at once began to move 
on the " rebels." Twice the British stormed up the hill 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE . 141 

only to be swept back again by the terrible fire of the 
Americans. When they made their third desperate charge 
they were successful, for the patriots had exhausted their 
powder and were compelled to flee as best they could. Thus 
the famous battle of Bunker Hill was fought and won by the 
British, but at so terrible a cost to them that they wanted 
no more victories like it. 

Washington in Command. — -The day before the battle of 
Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia, 
chose as chief of the American army the Virginian who 
had played so important a part in Braddock's campaign 
and who was soon to become one of the famous generals 
and leaders of the world — George Washington. On July 3, 
1775, he formally took command of the army on the Cam- 
bridge Common. In his cautious and deliberate manner, 
he began to prepare the raw and untrained forces under 
him for serious warfare against the British regulars. 
First of all he needed suppHes, particularly powder. 

Ethan Allen Takes Crown Point and Ticonderoga. — In 
this regard he was greatly helped by a brilHant exploit of 
Ethan Allen and his " Green Mountain Boys." In May, 
1775, shortly after the battle of Lexington and Concord, 
Allen and his men had seized Crown Point and Fort Ticon- 
deroga on the west shore of Lake Champlain and got posses- 
sion of a large stock of military stores, including the coveted 
powder and many cannon. 

Boston Evacuated by the British. — From this' source 
Washington secured a much needed supply of materials, and 
early in the next year he was ready for action. He occupied 
Dorchester Heights to the south of Boston, thus com- 
pletely blocking the British on the land side. The Brit- 
ish, realizing their desperate plight, made ready their ships 
in March, 1776, and sailed away to Halifax, leaving the 
Americans in possession of the field. 



142 . THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Quebec Expedition. — While Washington was pre- 
paring for this great stroke at Boston, a terrible disaster to 
American soldiers happened far to the northward. Think- 
ing that the French in Canada would be glad to get rid of 
British rule, the Americans in the fall of 1 775 fitted out two 
expeditions to invade that country. One under Benedict 
Arnold made its way through the wilds of Maine to Quebec. 
The other under Montgomery went up through the Lake 
Champlain region to the St. Lawrence River, and thence 
down the river to join Arnold (see map, p. 148). On a day 
in the dead of winter, when a fierce snowstorm was raging, 
the Americans attacked the British garrison, but were beaten 
off with terrible loss. Montgomery was killed ; Arnold was 
badly wounded ; and the troops suffered cruelly. This 
expedition cost in all at least five thousand American 
soldiers, and put an end to all hopes of stirring up a revolu- 
tion in Canada. 

The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). — Not- 
withstanding the failure in Canada, the British defeat at 
Boston heartened the Americans, and the Continental 
Congress, sitting at Philadelphia, decided to issue a Declara- 
tion of Independence from Great Britain. At the beginning 
of the war most of the leaders had announced their loyalty 
to the mother country and had expressed the hope that 
good feeling might be established once more. After blood 
was shed, however, the boldest spirits determined on inde- 
pendence and war to the end. This was a dangerous step. 
Many of the Americans did not wish to break away from 
their allegiance to King George and were prepared to resist 
the declaration of independence by the Continental Con- 
gress. Moreover, if the Americans were defeated, the men 
who declared independence would doubtless be speedily 
hanged as " traitors." 

Thomas Paine' s Pamphlet. — ^It required great courage. 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 143 

then, to take the fateful step. In order to stir the country 
up to a high fervor in support of independence, Thomas Paine 
pubhshed in January, 1776, his famous pamphlet, " Com- 
mon Sense,'' which was sold by the thousands and read in 
taverns and by the firesides where the people were meeting 
to talk about the impending conflict. He urged his country- 
men to take heart, saying : 

Arms as the last resort decide the contest. . . . The sun never 
shone on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a City, 
County, a Province, or a Kingdom ; but of a Continent — of at 
least one eighth part of the habitable Globe. ... ! ye that 
love mankind ; ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the 
tyrant, stand forth ! Every spot of the old world is overrun with 
oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia 
and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a 
stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart ! O ! 
receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind ! 

This was the clear trumpet call for heroic action. 

Thomas Jefferson s Work; the Declaration Signed. — 
Fired by the zeal which animated Paine, and undaunted by 
paltry fears, the leaders in Congress, acting on the motion 
of the Virginia delegates, renounced allegiance to their king. 
The task of drawing up the declaration was given to a young 
Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, who quickly responded. When 
his draft was laid before Congress, angry debates ensued. 
Many were timid and others thought the plan unwise ; 
but at length on July 4, 1776, after some sHght changes, it 
was adopted. The glad tidings of American independence 
were rung out to the world from the old bell that hung in 
the belfry of the hall in which Congress sat, and couriers 
were sent out in every direction bearing copies of the 
Declaration. 

This truly immortal document set forth in a few sim- 
ple words the lofty principles that all men are created equal 



144 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



and that governments derive their just powers from the 
consent of the governed. They were a prophecy of the 
future in America, of a better and freer country. They 
cheered the soldiers who were engaged in a great war, 




Mi- 




From a recent photograph 



Independence Hall, Philadelphia 



giving their Hves that the "nation so conceived and so dedi- 
cated " might long endure. 

III. The Middle States Campaigns and the French 

Alliance 

Battles of Long Island and White Plains. — As soon as the 
British left Boston, Washington with a large body of men set 
out for New York, where, it was evident, the enemy wouM- 
make an attack sooner or later. In August, 1776, the 
British began to land troops on Long Island. In time 
fortune favored them. They cut the American army into 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 145 



two parts, captured one section of it, and forced the other 
to retire across the river to New York City. " Our situa- 
tion," wrote Washington at this time, " is truly distressing. 
The check our detachment sustained . . . has dispirited too 
great a proportion of our troops and filled their minds with 




Wms. Eng. Co., N.y. 



The Revolutionary War in the North 

apprehension and despair." From the city the American 
army retreated rapidly northward to White Plains, where 
an unsuccessful stand was made against the British. 
Things now looked dark indeed for the American cause. 
Hundreds of mihtiamen, thinking all was lost, deserted and 
went home. The Continental Congress at Philadelphia was 
thoroughly frightened. Turning over the entire control 
of the war to Washington, the members left Philadelphia, 
where the .British soldiers were daily expected. 



146 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Retreat through New Jersey; Victories at Trenton and 
Princeton (December, 1776). — Although his army was 
melting away and nearly everybody around him was dis- 
couraged, Washington kept faith. After the unhappy con- 
flict in New York, he took a part of his troops across the 
Hudson River and retreated rapidly southward through 
New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Having rested his men for 
a while, Washington made a bold stroke which served to 
revive the hopes of the downcast Americans. Across the 
river at Trenton, a few miles away, there was an army of 
"Hessians"; that is, German soldiers from Hesse who had 
been hired out by their ruler to George HI to fight under 
British command against the Americans. On Christmas 
night, 1776, Washington and his men set out in a snow- 
storm, made their way through the ice floes which swept 
down the Delaware, and the next morning surprised the 
British forces at Trenton, capturing more than a thousand 
prisoners. Leaving campfires burning to mislead other 
British troops who were coming to the aid of the Trenton 
forces, Washington hastened away toward Princeton, where 
he defeated several British regiments on their way south. 

These exploits greatly cheered the patriots. The Hessian 
prisoners were marched through the streets of Philadelphia 
amid great rejoicing. 

Defeats at Brandywine and Germantown; Philadelphia 
Captured by the British (1777). — Then followed a lull 
in the fighting, until the news came that the British com- 
mander. General Howe, was preparing to capture Phila- 
delphia by an expedition from the direction of the sea. 
Thereupon Washington sought to prevent the fall of Phila- 
delphia, but his efforts utterly failed. In two battles, 
Brandywine and Germantown, the Americans were sadly 
beaten, and the city fell into the hands of the British in 
the summer of 1777. 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 



147 



The Winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778). — The winter 
which followed has been justly called the " darkest hour " 
in the War for Independence. With his defeated troops 
Washington withdrew to the northward and went into camp 
at Valley Forge. The hardships of the men during that 
dreadful winter cannot be described in words. The soldiers 




Washington at Valley Forge 
The darkest hour in the War for Independence." 



From a painting 



were in rags and were half starved all the time. Hundreds 
were without shoes and blankets and seldom did they have 
anything but the coarsest food. Lafayette, the young 
Frenchman who had come over the sea to dedicate himself 
to the cause of liberty in America, wrote of Valley Forge : 

The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had 
neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze 
until they became black. . . . The army frequently remained 
whole days without provisions, and the patient endurance of both 
officers and men was a miracle. 



148 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



Only an undying faith in the justice of their cause and in 
the wisdom and abihty of Washington kept the remnants 
of an army together. In spite of their hardships, however, 
they prepared for battle. They drilled regularly and were 




BuRGOYNE's Expedition 

gradually made into an efficient fighting force, under the 
direction of Baron Steuben, a German officer who had given 
his services to the Americans. 

Burgoyne's Expedition; Bennington and Saratoga 
(1777). — While the fortunes of war were going against 
the Americans in Pennsylvania, gains made to the 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 1 49 

northward had a very decided effect on the outcome of 
the struggle. It seemed to the British leaders that it 
would be good strategy to cut New England off from the 
rest of the country. In June, 1777, they sent General Bur- 
goyne southward by way of Lake Champlain to the head- 
waters of the Hudson, with a view to taking Albany and 
later joining Howe in New York. For a time Burgoyne 
prospered. He captured Ticonderoga and turned to the 
Hudson Valley. Then his troubles began. A division sent 
into Vermont to collect supplies was defeated and captured 
at Bennington by the Vermonters, or " Green Mountain 
Boys," under General Stark. Food suppHes ran low. Find- 
ing himself hemmed in by the Americans and seeing no 
signs of rehef from the South, on October 17, 1777, Bur- 
goyne surrendered at Saratoga. The American commander. 
General Gates, had superseded the real victor, General 
Schuyler, in time to receive the honors. 

The Alliance with France (1778). — The defeat and sur- 
render of Burgoyne marked a turning point in the War for 
Independence. As early as December, 1776, the American 
mission at Paris, headed by Benjamin Franklin, had sought 
aid from the government of France. Many hberal men 
in France, men who were preparing the way for the great 
Revolution so soon to follow in that country, expressed deep 
sympathy with the American cause and greeted Franklin 
with warmth and encouragement. But the king, Louis 
XVI, was cautious. Naturally he was not interested in 
helping to estabhsh a repubUc in the New World. He 
was thinking rather of reducing the power of Great Britain 
and humbling the country that had twenty-five years before 
broken the empire of France in India and North America. 

When he saw that the American colonists were strong 
enough to give some promise of winning, he cast his lot 
with them. In February, 1778, he made a treaty with the 



I50 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

United States agreeing to furnish men, money, warships, 
and supphes to the strugghng young nation. Never was 
aid more timely. It is generally believed that without the 
help of France the rule of Great Britain would have been 
restored in America and the patriots would have paid the 
penalty meted out to "rebels." We are certain that French 
aid guaranteed a victory that had before been in doubt. 

The British Leave Philadelphia. The Battle of Mon- 
mouth (June 28, 1778). — When the British heard of the 
alliance between France and the United States, they de- 
cided to leave Philadelphia and concentrate their forces in 
New York. On their way northward they were sharply 
attacked by Washington at Monmouth and would have 
been decisively defeated if it had not been for the treach- 
ery of one of his officers. General Charles Lee. Never- 
theless the battle had the effect of a victory and brought 
the fighting in the North to an end for a time. This 
enabled Washington to give his attention to the ever pres- 
ent task of strengthening the army and collecting supphes 
— a task so discouraging that only one with his faith and 
courage and patience could have met it. 

Treason of Benedict Arnold. — To all Washington's difficulties 
was added the treason of a brave and trusted officer, Benedict 
Arnold. Arnold had distinguished himself at Quebec and 
Saratoga, and thought that he was entitled to more rapid 
promotion than he received. Unable to put aside his feel- 
ing that injustice had been done to him, he decided in 
September, 1780, to betray his country by negotiating with 
the British for the surrender of West Point, which was 
under his command. Major Andre, of the British Army, 
was selected to carry out the arrangements. He was on 
his way back to the British lines when he was caught at 
Tarrytown by the Americans. The fatal papers were found 
in Andre's boots and he was hanged as a spy, Washington 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 151 



sternly refusing to grant pardon. Arnold, hearing that his 
treason was exposed, fled to a British warship in the Hudson 




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River. Long afterward he died in neglect in London, dressed, 
at his own request, in his old American uniform. 



152 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

IV. The Southern Campaigns; the War on the Sea 
AND IN the West 

Southern Resistance to Great Britain. — Although Lex- 
ington and Bunker Hill, by long tradition, occupy a high 
place in the history of the American Revolution, it must 
not be forgotten that the southern states were equally vig- 
orous with Massachusetts in opposing the policy of Great 
Britain. In Charleston, South Carolina, patriot bands had 
been hurriedly formed when the news of the Stamp Act was 
received, and were quickly revived to resist the tea duty. 

As early as 1771, some North Carohna citizens had been 
hanged for resisting British officers. Nearly a month 
before the battle of Lexington, Patrick Henry had called 
his countrymen in Virginia to arms. In May, 1775, a 
group of patriots in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 
had declared their independence by proclaiming that all 
British military and civil authority was at an end. 

Men from the South were side by side with men from the 
North at Valley Forge, Brandywine, and Monmouth. 
Although the great ports, Boston, New York, and Phila- 
delphia, which were so accessible from the sea, were the 
objects of special attention on the part of the British, the 
South was by no means neglected. Indeed, the evacuation 
of Boston, the defeat at Saratoga, and the retreat from 
Philadelphia, made holding the South all the more impor- 
tant to King George. 

British Capture Savannah and Charleston. — In 1776 
a British fleet attacked Charleston, South Carolina, and 
a vain attempt was made to land forces and capture 
the city. Two years after this failure the British took 
Savannah. In 1780 they successfully assaulted Charles- 
ton, this time by land. Elated by this victory, their 
general, Clinton, returned to New York, leaving General 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 153 

Cornwallis in command, with instructions to overrun and 
hold the South. 

Cornwallis against Greene and Lafayette. — For a while 
Cornwallis was fortunate. He defeated the Americans under 
General Gates at Camden ; and, in spite of severe losses at 
King's Mountain and Cowpens, he seemed about to conquer 
the Carolinas. He defeated General Nathanael Greene at 
Guilford, North Carohna, in 1781, but so many of his men 
were killed that he gave up the idea of taking the interior 
regions. Remaining close to the coast hne, Cornwallis 
marched northward into Virginia in 1781 to attack the 
Americans assembled there under Lafayette. The British 
general announced that he was going to capture " the boy," 
as he called Lafayette. 1 

The Siege of Yorktown ; Cornwallis Surrenders. — When 
Cornwallis marched boldly into Virginia and entrenched 
his army at Yorktown on the peninsula between the York 
and the James rivers, he had not calculated on the plans 
of the French and Americans, now firm allies. France 
sent over large forces under Rochambeau, which joined 
Washington's troops near New York, and shortly after- 
ward a strong fleet under De Grasse was dispatched to 
America. When the news of CornwaUis's operations 
reached Washington, he decided to take the French and 
American forces south to meet the new danger, pretending 
all the time that he was planning to attack the British 
in New York. Meanwhile the French fleet blockaded 
Cornwallis on the seaward side. 

As a result of this combined expedition CornwalHs was 
completely surrounded at Yorktown, and on October 19, 
1781, compelled to surrender. As the British soldiers 
marched out to lay down their arms, the bands played the 
famous old tune, " The World Turned Upside Down," 
which was entirely fitting, British rule in the United 



154 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



States was at an end forever, although King George's men 
still held New York City and Charleston. 

In looking over the achievements of the patriot armies we 
do not find very many battles won by American soldiers. 
The British were worn down by long marches and want of 
supplies as well as by fighting. It was only when they saw 
the American forces supplemented by French regulars and 
the French fleet that they gave up the struggle. 

War at Sea. Famous Exploits of John Paul Jones, — 
Although the decisive campaigns of the Revolution were 



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John Paul Jones with his flagship Bonhor.ime Richard engaged the British frigate Serapis 
in battle, and after a desperate fight captured it. 



along the seaboard, there are two aspects of the war which 
must not be overlooked. The first of these was the war at 
sea. Holland and Spain joined France in the war on Great 
Britain, and pitted their navies against British sea power. 
The Continental Congress, having no regular navy of its own, 
granted letters of authority to private shipowners, empower- 
ing them to equip vessels of war to prey on British com- 
merce. One famous captain, John Paul Jones, fitted out 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 155 

some vessels in French ports and sailed the coast of England 
and Scotland, destroying shipping wherever he could find it. 
In 1779, with his flagship Bonhomme Richard, he engaged 
the British frigate Serapis and after a desperate fight cap- 
tured it. These brave deeds at sea by Jones and other 
commanders, like Captain John Barry, of equal fame, 




T I N A. 

now ilk 



The Expedition of George Rogers Clark 

encouraged the patriots in America, but they contributed 
little to the final outcome. 

George Rogers Clark in the Great Northwest. — While 
John Paul Jones was playing his part on the sea, a young 
Virginian, George Rogers Clark, was playing another beyond 
the Alleghenies. During many years of exploration beyond 
the mountains, he had learned the value of that country, 
and when the war broke out he was determined to save it 
for the United States by destroying the British posts out 



156 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

there. With some help from the Virginia government and 
a small body of picked riflemen, he journeyed from the sea- 
board down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and up that 
river to Cahokia, taking Kaskaskia on the way. Then he 
struck back across the " drowned lands " of IlUnois to the 
British post at Vincennes (Indiana), which he captured with- 
out a blow. When the time to negotiate peace came, the 
Great Northwest was readily claimed for the United 
States. The French had sown, the British had reaped, the 
Americans had garnered. 

V. The Treaty of Peace ; Reasons for the Success 
OF THE American Cause 

The Treaty of Paris (1783). — It took nearly two years 
after the victory at Yorktown to complete the peace nego- 
tiations. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay 
were instructed in 1781 to discuss the terms of settlement 
with the agents of Great Britain at Paris ; but it was not 
until September, 1783, that an agreement was finally reached. 
By this treaty the independence of the thirteen United 
States was acknowledged by Great Britain and the bound- 
aries of the new country were laid out. It was agreed 
that the United States should extend from the Atlantic to 
the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes down to the 
thirty-first parallel of latitude. Canada was retained by the 
British and Florida was given to the Spaniards, who had 
joined the French in the war on Great Britain. Thus the 
United States, endowed with a rich heritage, was admitted 
to a place among the independent nations of the earth. 

Washington. — In the year that peace was concluded, 
Washington resigned his office as Commander-in-Chief and 
retired to his beautiful home at Mount Vernon, hoping to 
enjoy a well-earned rest. For more than thirty years he 
had carried burdens of civil and military life. In 1751, at 




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THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 157 

the early age of nineteen, he had been appointed to a post 
in the Virginia army; he had served capably and honorably 
in the campaigns against the French in the West ; he had 
been a member of the Virginia legislature. When the 
Revolution broke out he was elected to the Continental 
Congress and then given the arduous task of commanding 
the patriot army. 

Seldom, if ever, in the history of the world has another 
man borne such heavy responsibilities. He had to plan 
and lead in the conduct of battles in the field — that is a 
general's duty. But Washington did more. He was forced, 
by the failure of the Congress, to help secure troops, to 
keep together a straggling army of militiamen and volun- 
teers, to raise money, to collect supplies, to cheer his men 
by precept and example, and to suffer unnecessary woes 
with them. Then he had to turn aside from military 
affairs to guide and lead Congress in the management of 
public business. In defeat at Long Island, White Plains, 
Brandywine, and Germantown, Washington never de- 
spaired. His courage and faith kept the patriot cause alive 
when others gave up hope. He was the inspiration of the 
Revolutionary army. 

No wonder that after victory he looked forward to the 
deep joy of peace at home. But he was not to have rest. 
Soon he was called away to help draft a Constitution 
for his country, and then to serve for eight long years as 
president. In 1797 he laid down his public burdens, only 
to be summoned, a few months later, to command the 
army again in view of a threatened break with France. 
When he died in 1799, the whole nation could truly say 
that he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the 
hearts of his countrymen." 

Aid from Distinguished Foreigners. — Americans have always 
cherished the memory of foreign friends who aided them by 



158 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




Benjamin Franklin 



serving in the armies of the Revolution. From France 
came Lafayette; from Poland, Kosciuszko ; from Bavaria, 
DeKalb ; and from Prussia, Steuben. 

The Civilians' Part in the Revolution. Benjamin Frank- 
lin. — Without detracting from the valor of the men and 

officers who braved the dangers of 
the battlefield, we should add that 
they were not wholly responsible 
for the glorious outcome. To the 
able representatives abroad who 
won for the United States the sup- 
port of France and the aid of 
Holland great credit is due. Ben- 
jamin Franklin, the printer from 
Philadelphia, found fame through- 
out the world as a diplomat, deep 
thinker, and man of science, and 
secured the confidence of statesmen in Europe. 

Robert Morris. — The civilians also who raised the money 
and the supplies for the army must not be forgotten. 
Robert Morris, "the patriot financier" of Pennsylvania, 
labored day and night with all his great ability to find 
funds to pay the bills of an almost bankrupt govern- 
ment. If it be said that their efforts were not always suc- 
cessful, it must be remembered that their resources were 
slight and their trials severe. Finding it impossible to collect 
enough gold and silver, the Continental Congress and the 
governments of the states issued large sums of paper money. 
Such notes were mere promises to pay and fell rapidly 
in value, until the best of them were only worth a few 
cents on the dollar. Worthless as this paper was, the 
farmers and merchants accepted it in return for supplies 
and trusted to an independent nation to redeem its 
promises. 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 159 

The Work of the Women. — Women, too, did their full 
share. They made munitions, using their pewter dishes 
and cooking utensils for bullets ; they spun and wove 
and made clothing and hospital supplies ; they tilled 
the fields and garnered the crops while the men were 
away; they carried suppHes to the army, often at the 
risk of their lives. On Washington's call they gave 
gold and silver, jewels, and plate to be melted down and 
turned into coin ; they begged money for the army from 
door to door; they braved their lot as refugees fleeing be- 
fore British soldiers ; and not a few of them even served in 
the ranks. 

The spirit of these women is shown in a letter written at 
the time by a woman in Philadelphia to a friend in the 
army : 

I have retrenched every superfluous expense in my table and 
family; tea I have not drunk since last Christmas nor bought a 
new cap or gown since your defeat at Lexington ; and what I 
never did before, have learned to knit and am now making stock- 
ings of American wool. ... I have the pleasure to assure you 
that these are the sentiments of all my sister Americans. They 
have sacrificed assemblies, parties of pleasure, tea-drinking, and 
finery to that great spirit of patriotism that actuates all degrees 
of people throughout this extensive continent. 

Maintaining the Armies. — It was hard for the patriots to 
keep up the military strength of the country. At the open- 
ing of the Revolution the armies were composed of men who 
volunteered for a few months at a time and were always 
leaving in large bodies just when they were needed most. 
The- Continental Congress, made up of civilians who knew 
little about war and were afraid of strong military power, 
did not do anything to mend matters until, confronted with 
disaster, they saw that the militia system had broken 
down. Then they yielded to Washington's demand for a 



l6o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

standing army of regulars, enlisted for the war and paid, 
according to a definite understanding, in money and lands. 
Even this plan was only partly carried out, owing to the 
jealousy of the states and the dislike of the militiamen for 
long service. Not once during the Revolution was there 
an adequate supply of trained men equipped with necessary 
war materials. Had there been a regular army of half the 
number of men who actually served in the Revolutionary 
cause, the war could have been shortened by years. As 
Washington himself said : 

To bring men to be well acquainted with the duties of a 
soldier requires time. ... To expect the same service from raw 
and undisciplined recruits as from veteran soldiers is to expect 
what never did and perhaps never will happen. 

The Tories. — The trials of the patriots were made all 
the more difficult by the constant presence of enemies in their 
midst. As we have pointed out, no small number of Ameri- 
cans were loyal to the king and mother country all during 
the War. They gave aid and money and supplies to the 
British commanders at every opportunity. While Washing- 
ton and his heroic band were freezing and starving at Valley 
Forge, Tories were wining and dining with British officers in 
New York and Philadelphia. They laughed to scorn the 
" low demagogues '' and " pettifogging lawyers " — as 
they called the Revolutionists — who were trying to make a 
new nation in North America, and they did all the damage 
they could to the American cause. 

Really there was a civil war as well as a revolution, and 
naturally the most bitter feeling arose between the -two 
parties. The patriots, deeply angered at those who re- 
mained loyal to George III, seized their property, im- 
prisoned many, and drove hundreds out of the country. 

When at length the war was over, America was free from 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE i6i 

British rule ; but it was a divided, weakened, and impover- 
ished country. Order had to be restored, many wrongs 
righted, damages repaired, farms and homes and trade re- 
estabhshed, and debts paid. A great work lay before 
the American people when in 1783 the news of final peace 
spread from hamlet to hamlet. Cheered by the success of 
the Revolution and inspired by a faith in the future, the 
country took up its new responsibilities. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why did the British authorities send troops to Lexington 
and Concord .? How did it happen that the undrilled farmers 
who responded to the "Lexington alarm" could do so much dam- 
age to the British troops ^ 

II. I. What is meant by a siege.? Study the map of Boston 
and vicinity and explain why the city could be so easily besieged 
from the land. Could supplies be entirely cut off from the British 
soldiers in Boston .? Why or why not ? 2. Why is the battle of 
Bunker Hill usually looked upon as an American victory, although 
the earthworks were finally captured by the British troops .? 
3. What reasons can you give for the action of the British com- 
mander in withdrawing his troops from Boston and leaving the 
city to the Americans .? 4. What led the Americans to make 
the unfortunate attempt to capture Quebec .? 5. The war began 
in April, 1775 ; the colonists did not declare their independence 
until more than a year afterward. Explain the reasons for this 
delay. 6. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence .? Read 
it (see Appendix, p. 641) and tell what arguments impress you as 
most convincing reasons for breaking away from the mother 
country. 

III. I. Why did the British, after their failure at Boston, 
choose New York as their next point of attack ? 2. Trace on a 
map the movements of Washington after the defeat of the 
Americans at the battle of Long Island. 3. Why were the 
battles of Trenton and Princeton important victories for the Amer- 
icans } 4. Note the location of the battle of the Brandywine. 
Why did the British forces approach Philadelphia from this 



1 62 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

direction ? 5. Locate Valley Forge on the map. Why has the 
winter at Valley Forge been called the ''darkest hour of the Rev- 
olution" ? 6. What was the aim of the British leaders in plan- 
ning the Burgoyne expedition ? Why was this a more difficult 
venture for the British troops than the capture of New York 
and Philadelphia ? The battles around Saratoga are recognized 
as among the most decisive battles of the world's history. 
Why so important ? 7. Who secured the alliance with France .? 
What were the consequences of this alliance ? What other foreign 
aid did the Americans have .? 

IV. I. Describe the southern campaigns. 2. Why was the 
expedition of George Rogers Clark an important event of the 
war ? Trace on a map the route of this expedition. 3. When, 
where, and how did the active fighting of the Revolution end .? 

V. I. When and where was the treaty of peace concluded .? 
What were its terms ? 2. What were Washington's greatest 
services to the cause of American independence ? 3. Who was 
Robert Morris and what part did he play in the Revolution .? 
4. What name was given to the Americans who sympathized 
with England in the war I How were these people treated by 
the American patriots .? 

Problems for Further Study 

I. Select one or more of the following topics for further study 
and for report to the class : 

Lexington and Concord: See Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," 
ch. i; Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 257- 
260. 

The Quebec Expedition: See Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," 
ch. v. 

The Capture of Stony Point : See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero 
Tales from American History," pp. 81-89; Coffin's "Boys of 
Seventy-Six," ch. xxiii ; Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the 
Revolution," pp. 283-285. 

King's Mountain: See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales," 
pp. 71-78; Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," ch. xxviii. 

The Expedition of George Rogers Clark : See Roosevelt and 
Lodge's "Hero Tales," pp. 31-41; McMurry's "Pioneers of the 
Mississippi Valley," ch. viii. 



THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 163 

2. Tell the story of the drafting and signing of the Declaration 
of Independence. 

See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. i; 
Hart's ''Source Book," pp. 147-149. 

3. Find some of the events in the early life of Washington 
that fitted him for his great task as leader of the army in the 
Revolution. 

See Southworth's " Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 24- 
47; Parkman's "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 335-337,343- 
350; Wilson's "George Washington," chs. ii, iii. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

While the patriots were busy with the problems of war, 
they also sought to establish lasting governments for the 
states and the new nation. In fact, some time before the 
Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress ad- 
vised the several states to set up governments of their own. 
On the very day that Congress selected the committee to 
draft the Declaration of Independence, it also chose another 
committee to draw up a plan for the permanent union of 
all the states. 

This was a difficult task. Being engaged in a terrible strug- 
gle to throw off British rule, the colonists were in no mood 
to estabhsh another *' strong government " which might 
follow the example of Parliament and interfere too much 
with their local affairs. During the entire Revolutionary 
War, there was no vigorous national government binding 
together all the states. Had there been such a government, 
armies and supplies could have been raised with ease and 
the war brought to a quicker end. The states were jealous 
of local freedom and jealous of one another, and the Conti- 
nental Congress was given little power except over foreign 
affairs. 

I. The Articles of Confederation and the First 
State Constitutions 

The Articles of Confederation, 1781. — This fear of a 
strong central government made the members of Congress 
hesitate a long time before adopting the plan of union 

164 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 165 

which was drawn up by the committee under the title of the 
"Articles of Confederation." Not until late in 1777 was 
the scheme agreed to and sent to the states for their ap- 
proval, or ratification. The states debated the matter a 
long time before they would give their consent to the 
Articles, but finally by 1781 all of them had agreed to the 
plan and it was put into effect. 

Weakness of the Articles. — This was thought to be a 
great victory, but in a Uttle while dissatisfaction arose with 
the Articles of Confederation. The objections were, in the 
main, as follows : 

1. There was no president with power to enforce the 
laws of the Congress throughout the United States. 

2. The Congress represented states ; it did not directly 
represent the people. Although each state could send from 
two to seven delegates to the Congress it had only one vote 
there; that is, the little state of Delaware had the same 
power as the big state of Virginia. 

3. The Congress had no power to raise money and soldiers 
directly; it could only call upon the states to furnish their 
respective shares, or " quotas " as they were called. The 
states under this plan often refused to meet the demands 
of Congress. Consequently the national government could 
not secure enough men for the army or raise money to pay 
the interest on the debt incurred in the war. Congress 
could not conscript the individual citizens of any state or 
tax them directly. 

4. The Congress had no power to regulate commerce be- 
tween the states and with foreign countries, so that business, 
manufacturing, and trade were at the mercy of the state 
governments and also of foreign countries. One state could 
tax goods coming in from another state. When a foreign 
country made an unjust law against American trade, Con- 
gress was powerless to reply — except in words. 



1 66 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

5. There were few prohibitions imposed by the Articles 
on the states and each state legislature was a law unto itself. 

New Constitutions in the Several States. — While the 
patriots were planning a union of the states, they also pro- 
ceeded to draft constitutions for their respective state 
governments. In Connecticut and Rhode Island this was 
not a difficult problem, because all they had to do was to 
strike the king's name out of their charters and go on as 
before, electing members of the legislature, governors, and 
other officers. In the colonies where the governor had been 
the proprietor, namely Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Dela- 
ware, or where he had been appointed by the king, as in New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and 
all the colonies south of Maryland, it was necessary to 
make complete plans for government. So in these states 
the revolutionists drew up written constitutions setting forth 
the scheme of government which they thought desirable. 

Provisions of the First State Constitutions. — The most 
interesting features of these new governments, framed in 
the several states in the year of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence or soon afterward, were as follows : 

1. Being afraid of royal and proprietary governors, the 
constitution makers in nearly every state decided to have 
the governor subject to the orders of the legislature. Only 
in New York and Massachusetts was the governor made 
elective by popular vote. Generally he was chosen by the 
legislature and not given many powers. In Massachusetts 
alone did the governor have the sole power to veto laws 
made by the legislature. 

2. In all the states, except Pennsylvania and Georgia, 
the legislature was composed of two houses : a senate, which 
took the place of the old colonial council ; and an assembly, 
or lower house, modeled after the colonial assembly. 

3. Often these first constitutions provided that only men 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 167 

who were worth a stated amount of money or held cer- 
tain rehgious opinions could be elected to office. For ex- 
ample, the governors of North Carolina and Massachusetts 
had to be worth £1000, the governor of Maryland, £5000, 
and the governor of South Carolina, £10,000, 

4. In nearly all states the right to vote was restricted to 
men who owned property of a stated value or paid taxes. 
Many men were dissatisfied with a plan which deprived 
them of the vote, and within a few years there was a wide- 
spread agitation for white manhood suffrage. 

Not a few leading women were likewise dissatisfied. In 
March, 1776, Mrs. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, 
wrote to her husband in the Continental Congress, asking 
him to use his influence in favor of equal rights for women. 
Two years later, 1778, Mrs. Corbin, sister of Richard 
Henry Lee, of Virginia, presented her own petition for the 
right to vote. Only one state, however, granted women 
this right, namely. New Jersey, and this was taken away a 
few years later by the legislature. 

II. Government under the Confederation; the Con- 
stitutional Convention 

Growing Discontent with the Government. — Although a 
great many people, probably a majority, were fairly well 
satisfied with the Articles of Confederation, several groups, 
particularly in the towns along the seaboard, were thoroughly 
discontented. 

1. All men who wanted to see the national govern- 
ment strong at home and respected by other countries 
demanded reform. 

2. Those to whom the government owed money were 
dissatisfied, because they did not receive any interest on 
their bonds and saw their chances of getting the principal 
growing slighter every day. 



1 68 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

3. The manufacturers were aggrieved, because there was 
no tariff to protect their small industries against EngHsh 
competition, which became very keen after the Revolution. 

4. Men engaged in trade and commerce were discon- 
tented, because Great Britain had made laws against them, 
and the government of the United States could not strike 
any blows in return against British trade to bring that 
country to terms. 

5. Business men were distressed, because the legislatures 
of the states made so much paper money that the debtors 
could pay their debts in cheap paper. In fact, in Massa- 
chusetts, a real civil war broke out because the money 
lenders foreclosed so many mortgages and took hundreds of 
farms away from debtors. Some farmers, headed by Daniel 
Shays, started a rebellion which almost overturned the 
government of the state and was put down only by very 
strong measures. Truly the early days of our own republic, 
as of all other republics, were full of troubles. 

Demand for a Stronger Government, — The government 
of the United States under the Articles of Confederation 
was in danger of falling to pieces. A few persons began to 
talk seriously of choosing a king strong enough to make 
the government feared and respected at home and abroad. 
Others, including Wa?shington, Alexander Hamilton, and 
James Madison, urged the formation of a new government. 
Washington in a private letter said that disaster awaited 
if they continued to rely upon " a half-starving, hmping 
government, tottering at every step^'; but he indignantly 
rejected a suggestion that he become king himself. 

The Ordinance of 1787. — Almost the only great piece of 
work done by the government of the United States under 
the Articles of Confederation was to prepare the western 
country beyond the Alleghenies for settlement. These 
regions, which had been claimed by states along the sea- 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 169 

board, were given to the general government on condition 
that they should be disposed of for the benefit of all and 
formed later into separate states. 

In 1784 Thomas Jefferson proposed in Congress a measure 
for the government of the western territory, and in 1787 Con- 
gress adopted the famous " Northwest Ordinance " or plan 







if. mM I 






nil lll|||H\ll|//illl4/ m^ 



Washington was indignant at the receipt of the letter inviting him to become king. 

of government to be put into effect in that district. This 
celebrated document provided that (i) in due time states 
should be created in the Northwest Territory, (2) slavery 
should be forever prohibited there, and (3) all settlers 
there should enjoy religious freedom. Another important 
law, enacted in 1785, provided that one section (or 640 
acres of land) in each township of thirty-six sections should 
be set apart for the maintenance of schools in the township. 



170 ■ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Constitutional Convention (1787). — The year before 
the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance, there was held 
at AnnapoHs a conference of delegates from five states to 
discuss matters of trade and commerce and reform in the 
national government. There were so few delegates present 
that it was decided not to undertake any radical changes. 
The AnnapoHs convention, therefore, merely recommended 
that Congress call a second convention for the sole and 
express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. 

Congress compHed with this request and in February, 
1787, invited the states to send representatives to Phila- 
delphia. The legislatures of all the states except Rhode 
Island responded by choosing delegates. When the con- 
vention met it was found to contain many of the ablest 
men of the nation : Hamilton of New York ; Washington, 
Madison, and Randolph of Virginia ; George Read of Dela- 
ware ; Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts; 
Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
from Connecticut; Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, 
and James Wilson of Pennsylvania ; General Charles Coates- 
worth Pinckney of South CaroHna ; and General Davie of 
North Carolina. Jefferson was not a member ; he was away 
at Paris as the minister of the United States. The Constitu- 
tional Convention sat behind closed doors from May to Sep- 
tember, 1787, and after many stormy debates, which more 
than once threatened to end in complete disagreement, a 
new plan of government — the Constitution of the United 
States — was adopted. 

III. The Constitution and its Adoption 

The Compromises of the Constitution. — The chief disputes 
in the convention were between the large and the small 
states, between the commercial states of the North and 
the agricultural and slave states of the South, and between 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 171 

those who wished to give large power to the masses of the 
people and those who wished to limit this power. 

1. The Compromise between the Large and the Small 
States. — The small states, Connecticut, Delaware, and 
New Jersey, were unwiUing to surrender their equal vote in 
the Congress, and the large states, Virginia and Massa- 
chusetts, were determined not to give an equal power to 
the little states. So a deadlock arose and there seemed 
no way out until it was finally suggested that the states 
should all be equal in one house of Congress — the Senate 
— and that all states should be represented according to 
population in the lower house, the House of Representatives. 

2. Representation of Slaves. — In connection with this sub- 
ject a contest arose as to whether slaves should be regarded 
as '* people " in apportioning taxes and representatives 
among the states according to population. A compromise 
according to an old plan was adopted, whereby three fifths 
of the slaves should be counted for this purpose. 

3. Commerce and the Slave Trade, — The third big con- 
troversy was over commerce. The North wanted to give 
Congress the power to regulate trade. The South was 
afraid that laws might be made for the benefit of the northern 
shipowners and manufacturers, to the injury of southern 
farmers and planters, and that the slave trade might be 
abolished. After much argument it was agreed that Con- 
gress should have the power to regulate foreign as well as 
interstate commerce, but that the slave trade should not be 
abolished before 1808. It was further agreed that the 
President might negotiate treaties, including, of course, 
commercial agreements with foreign countries, but that a 
two-thirds vote in the Senate should be necessary to rati- 
fication. 

4. The Problem of Electing Congress and the Federal 
Officers. — There was also no little discussion in the 



172 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

convention as to what share the voters should have 
directly in the government. There were some members who 
thought that the mass of men should have as little to do 
with the government as possible, and nearly all were agreed 
that too many popular elections were dangerous things. 
Out of the debate over this matter the members of the con- 
vention came to this agreement : 

(i) that the only branch of the government to be elected 
directly by the voters should be the House of Representa- 
tives — the qualifications for voters to be the same as 
those fixed by the states for voters for the lower houses of 
their legislatures ; 

(2) that the Senators should be elected, not by the voters 
directly, but by the legislatures of the respective states ; 

(3) that the President should be chosen by " electors " 
who were, in turn, to be chosen in such manner as the legis- 
latures of the states might direct ; 

(4) that the Supreme Court, which has the power to de- 
clare null and void acts of Congress that are contrary to 
the Constitution, should be chosen by the President and 
Senate — the two branches of the government not elected 
immediately by popular vote. 

The Constitution Contrasted with the Articles of Con- 
federation. — The great changes which the Constitution 
made in the plan of government set forth in the Articles of 
Confederation were as follows : 

1. The Articles provided for no executive at all, but 
left the enforcement of the laws to the Congress of the 
United States and to the good will of the several states. 
The Constitution declared that there should be a President 
who should supervise the execution of the federal laws 
throughout the union, and see that they were obeyed. 

2. The Articles provided for a Congress composed 
of one house in which each state had one vote and no 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 173 

more. The Constitution arranged for two houses as above 
described. 

3. Under the Articles there was no federal judicial sys- 
tem to decide disputes between citizens and between states 
arising under the Constitution and the federal laws. The 
Constitution provided that there should be one supreme 
court and such additional federal courts as Congress might 
deem necessary. 

4. The Articles could be amended only with the consent 
of all the states, whereas the Constitution provided for 
amendment by a two-thirds vote of Congress or by a 
national convention, subject to the approval of three fourths 
of the states. 

The Four Important Powers of Congress. — While setting 
up a government composed of a Congress of two houses 
to make laws, a single President to carry them into effect, 
and a judiciary to interpret them, the Constitution gave 
to the Congress the right to make national laws on certain 
important, matters (see Appendix, pp. 648-649). Among 
the new powers conferred on Congress, four are of special 
importance, namely : 

(i) to lay and collect taxes without asking the help of 
state governments ; 

(2) to raise and support armies and naval forces directly 
without calling on the states for permission ; 

(3) to regulate trade and commerce with foreign coun- 
tries and between the states ; 

(4) to do all things necessary and proper to carry into 
effect the powers conferred by the Constitution. 

Thus the federal government was given the very powers 
necessary to make it strong at home and abroad. It could 
raise money to pay its debts, give protection to American 
manufacturing and commerce, defend the country against 
foreign foes, and suppress disorders at home, such as had 



174 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

occurred in Massachusetts. In addition to conferring these 
large powers on the federal government, the new Constitution 
forbade the states to make paper money and to do several 
other things which had been disturbing to business (see 
Appendix, pp. 641-657). 

The Struggle over the Adoption of the Constitution. — 
When at length, in September, 1787, the Philadelphia con- 
vention finished its work and published to the country the 
new scheme of government, the greater task of securing its 
adoption yet remained. The convention had proposed that 
the Constitution should be submitted for approval or dis- 
approval to a convention in each state, elected by the 
voters thereof, and that when nine states had ratified it, 
the new federal government should be established. 

As soon as the call for the elections was issued, there en- 
sued a bitter political campaign. The farmers and the 
debtors seem to have been chief among the opponents of 
ratification. They declared that the states were in danger 
of losing their liberties and that the federal government 
would become tyrannical. The supporters of the Constitu- 
tion came mainly from the towns which were the centers of 
trade, commerce, and finance. They argued that the re- 
public was in mortal danger of ruin owing to the weakness 
of the government. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote a 
series of remarkable articles for the newspapers in defense 
of the Constitution. These were afterward reprinted as 
"The Federalist'' — destined to become celebrated as one of 
the greatest treatises on government ever written in any 
language. Washington wrote to his friends all over the 
country begging them to help secure the adoption of the 
Constitution. 

The Elections. — New Jersey, Delaware, and Georgia 
quickly ratified the Constitution with little or no opposi- 
tion ; but in all the other states there were sharp political 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 75 

contests. In three leading states, New York, Massachusetts, 
and Virginia, the battle was especially hot. In the first of 
these, the opponents of the Constitution won a large ma- 
jority of the delegates to the state convention, and in the 




Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall near Trinity Church 

in New York City. 



other two the decision was so close that the outcome was 
uncertain. New York agreed only on the understanding 
that a new convention be called to amend the Constitution. 
Virginia, Massachusetts, and other states demanded impor- 
tant amendments. By dint of the hardest labor, enough 



Ij6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

states had been won by the summer of 1788 to put the new 
government into force. Rhode Island and North CaroHna 
at first rejected the Constitution altogether, and it was not 
until they saw they would be in a dangerous position out- 
side of the Union that they decided to come into the fold. 

Great as was the excitement over the elections, only 
about one fourth of the white men took part in them, 
either becau^ they were excluded by property qualifica- 
tions on the franchise (see page 167), or because they were 
indifferent. 

Washington the First President (1789). — When the 
news of the adoption of the Constitution by the required 
number of states was received in New York, Boston, and 
Philadelphia, bells were rung, cannon fired, and grand pro- 
cessions were held in the streets. It was agreed everywhere 
that Washington — " the first, the last, and the best " — 
should be President under the Constitution ; so he was 
elected without a dissenting vote. In the spring of 1789, 
he took the oath of office in New York City, and the new 
government, which had been wrung from a reluctant na- 
tion, set out on its great experiment. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. How was the government of the United States carried 
on during the Revolution ? What important powers did the cen- 
tral government lack at this time ? What were the principal 
weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation ? 2. In what ways 
did the new state constitutions safeguard the rights of the people 
as a whole against the possibility of a tyrannical government ^. 
In what ways were the rights to vote and to hold office restricted 
by the state constitutions .? Why was this policy followed ? 

II. I. What were the important provisions of the Ordinance 
of 1787 ? What states were later carved out of the Northwest 
Territory .? 2. Why was the Constitutional Convention called .? 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 177 

When and where did it assemble ? How was it made up ? Who 
were some of the prominent leaders in the convention ? 

III. I. What is meant by a compromise? 2. What were 
the most important disputes with regard to the proposed consti- 
tution ? How were these disputes settled ? (The preamble of 
the Constitution should be memorized. Especial study should 
be made of the powers of the Congress [Article i, Section 8], and 
the Hmitations of the powers of the Congress [Article i, Section 9].) 

Problems for Further Study 

1. The period between 1783 and 1789 is sometimes called the 
"Critical Period" of American history. Why.? 

2. Find out what part each of the following statesmen played 
in the constitutional convention : Washington, Hamilton, Madi- 
son. See Elson's " Side Lights on American History," vol. i, 
ch. ii ; Sparks's " The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 151-178 ; 
Wilson's " George Washington," pp. 257-262. 

3. Make a list of the provisions of the Constitution that were 
made necessary by the existence of slavery. 

Outline for Review of the Struggle for Independence 
AND THE Founding of the New Nation (Chapters VI, VII, 
VIII, IX) 

I. The condition of the colonies on the eve of the Revolution. 

A. Elements of strength in the colonies. 

1. The development of the spirit of independence and 

self-reliance. 

2. The growth of the population. 

3. The development of farming. 

4. The beginnings of manufacturing. 

a. Manufacturing in the home. 

b. The iron industry. 

c. Shipbuilding. 

5. The development of trade and commerce. 

6. The principal cities. 

B. Differences between the North and the South. 

I. Differences in surface and climate and their relation 
to differences in social life and customs. 

N 



178 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

2. Local self-government in New England : the town as 

the unit of government. 

3. The larger units of government in the middle colonies. 

4. The county as the unit in the South. 

C. Likenesses between the North and the South. 

1. Few differences in language, religion, and laws. 

2. Representative government common to both sections. 

D. Education in the colonies. 

II. Causes of the American Revolution. 

A. The attempt of England to control American trade. 

1. Objectionable laws enforced by England after the 

Seven Years' War. 

2. Other objectionable policies of England. 

a. The decree limiting westward expansion. 

b. The Stamp Tax. 

B. The protest of the colonies against taxation without 

representation. 

1. Patrick Henry's speech. 

2. The Stamp Act Congress. 

3. The Stamp Act repealed. 

C. More vigorous protests following the passage of the 

Townshend Acts. 

1. The Boston Massacre. 

2. The Boston Tea Party. 

3. The First Continental Congress. 

D. English friends of America : Pitt and Burke. 

III. The War for Independence. 

A. The beginning of the struggle. 

1. Lexington and Concord. 

2. The Second Continental Congress. 

B. The northern campaigns. 

1. The siege of Boston and the battle of Bunker Hill. 

2. Washington assumes command of the army. 

3. Crown Point and Ticonderoga. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW • 179 

4. The evacuation of Boston by the British. 

5. The Quebec expedition. 

C. The Declaration of Independence. 

D. The middle states campaigns. 

1. Occupation of New York City by the British forces. 

2. Washington's retreat through New Jersey. 

3. The battles of Trenton and Princeton. 

4. Occupation of Philadelphia by the British forces. 

5. The winter at Valley Forge. 

6. The Burgoyne expedition : Bennington and Saratoga. 

E. The French alliance. 

F. The southern campaigns. 

1. Capture of Savannah and Charleston. 

2. Cornwallis's campaign in the South. 

a. Camden. 

b. King's Mountain and Cowpens. 

c. Guilford. 

3 . The siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis. 

G. The war at sea : John Paul Jones and John Barry. 

H. The war in the Mississippi Valley : George Rogers Clark's 
expedition and the capture of Vincennes. 

/. The Treaty of Paris. 

/. Some of the causes of American success in the war. 

1. Washington's character, skill, and leadership. 

2. Franklin's diplomacy. 

3. The work of Robert Morris in financing the war. 

4. The work of the women. 

IV. The "Critical Period" between 1781 and 1789: the Con- 
stitution. 
J. Government under the Continental Congress during the 
Revolution. 

B. The Articles of Confederation proposed (1777) and 

adopted (1781). 

C. New constitutions of the states and their principal 

provisions. 



i8o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



D. Government under the Articles of Confederation. 

1. Discontent throughout the country: Shays's Re- 

belHon. 

2. The Ordinance of 1787 the most important legislation 

under the Articles of Confederation. 

E. The Constitutional Convention. 

F. The Constitution. 

1. Its compromises. 

a. Between large and small states. 
h. Regarding the counting of slaves in apportioning 
representatives. 

c. Regarding commerce and the slave trade. 

d. Regarding the direct share of the voters in the 

government. 

2. Contrasts between the Constitution and The Articles 

of Confederation. 

3. The four important powers of Congress. 

G. The adoption of the Constitution. 
H. Washington the first President. 



Important names : 

Statesmen and Leaders in Civil Life 



Alexander Hamilton 



Military and Naval Leaders 



American 


English 


American 


English 


Patrick Henry 


William 


Washington 


Howe 


Samuel Adams 


Pitt 


Greene 


Cornwallis 


James Otis 


Edmund 


Gates 




Benjamin Franklin 


Burke 


Schuyler 


French 


Robert Morris 




Jones 


Lafayette 


Thomas Jefferson 






Rochambeau 


James Madison 









Important dates : 1765; 1775 
1783; 1787; 1789. 



July 4, 1776; 1777; 1778; 1781; 



CHAPTER X 

THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 

I. Starting the New Government 

When the federal government began operations in 1789, 
the treasury was empty, debts were pihng up, and the army 
was faUing to pieces. Trying problems lay before President 
Washington, his advisers, and Congress. Revenues had to 
be raised, departments of government organized, a Supreme 
Court and other federal courts created, a national monetary 
system estabhshed, and relations with foreign countries ad- 
justed. Moreover, it was necessary to allay the fears of 
those who had opposed the adoption of the Constitution on 
the ground that it was " dangerous to the liberties of states 
and citizens." 

The First Amendments to the Constitution. — Among the 
first objections advanced by the opponents of the Consti- 
tution was that there were no express Hmitations in favor 
of personal freedom and the rights of states. In order to 
meet this objection, the first Congress passed a set of amend- 
ments to the Constitution, ten of which were soon ratified 
by the states and became a part of the law of the land (see 
page 654). These new clauses provided (i) that Congress 
could make no laws interfering with freedom of rehgious 
worship, freedom of speech and press, and the right to as- 
semble and petition the government. They also provided 
(2) for indictment by grand jury and trial by jury in all 




1 82 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

cases of persons charged by the federal officers with serious 
crimes. (3) The ninth and tenth amendments were de- 
signed to reassure those who had fears for the rights of 
states and the people. The eleventh 
amendment, adopted in 1798, was 
also written in the same spirit, be- 
cause it was intended to prevent 
the federal courts from hearing suits 
brought by citizens against ** sov- 
ereign states." 

Alexander Hamilton's Measures. — 
All these declarations of rights, 
however, contributed little to set- 
tine; the national house in order. 

Alexander Hamilton rr., 

I hat called for hnancial genms, 
and Washington found it in Alexander Hamilton, the first 
Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton's plans for the new 
government were embodied in famous reports to Congress. 

I. The New Government Adjusts the War Debts. — One 
of the first things Hamilton proposed was that the new 
federal government should call in all the certificates, bonds, 
and other " promises to pay " which had been issued by the 
Continental Congress during the Revolution in return for 
money and supplies necessary to carry on the war. He 
wanted the government to put the entire national debt into 
one lump sum and issue new bonds, payable some time in 
the future and drawing interest until paid. This process 
was called " funding " the debt. 

Hamilton's second proposal was that the federal govern- 
ment should "assume" the debts which had been incurred 
by the several states in carrying on the war ; that is, take 
over those debts, add them to the already large national 
debt, and " fund " them also. Hamilton declared that the 
government was honor-bound to pay the entire debt at 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 183 

its full value and thus restore its credit at home and 
abroad.^ 

These proposals were attacked, especially by southern 
members of Congress, who urged that most of the debt had 
been bought up by speculators at a few cents on the dollar. 
Opponents of the plan said that it was unjust to the per- 
sons who had originally lent money or sold supplies to 
the government, and unjust to the tax-payers, to give a 
dollar to a speculator in return for a certificate for which 
he had paid only ten or twenty cents. It was also said, 
with truth, that some members of the Congress had them- 
selves held, or had bought for speculation, this depreciated 
paper, and were profiting by the transaction. 

It was urged against the assumption of state debts that it 
would weaken the states and strengthen the national gov- 
ernment by making the bondholders look to the latter for 
the payment of the interest and principal of the debt. The 
farmers were afraid that the holders of the bonds would be- 
come a " great money power '' to which they would have 
to pay tribute from the produce of their land. 

The Compromise between North and South. — So strong 
was the opposition to the assumption of the state debts that 
Congress was deadlocked over the matter for a long time. 
Some of the northern men threatened to break up the 
Union if the southern Congressmen would not consent to 
Hamilton's plan. Things became so serious that at the 
request of Hamilton, Jefferson, who was Secretary of State, 
arranged a dinner at which the leaders on both sides came 
together and reached a compromise. It was agreed that 
enough southern members would vote for assumption to 



1 It was provided that most of the continental currency or paper money could 
be "funded" at the rate of one cent on the dollar. That is, if a man had $100 in 
paper money, he could get a new ^i government bond. Few took the trouble 
to do this, and so the worthless "continentals" simply disappeared. 



1 84 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

carry it in Congress, and that northern members would, in 
return, vote for a law locating the new capital of the country 
on the banks of the Potomac River. 

As a part of the "trade" it was agreed, in exchange for 
Pennsylvania votes in favor of assumption, to locate the 
capital at Philadelphia for ten years before transferring it 
to the new city of Washington on the Potomac. The 
bargain was carried out to the letter. The capital was 
transferred from New York to Philadelphia in 1790, and 
then to Washington in 1800. By this trade the entire war 
debt was " funded " by Congress. 

2. The United States Bank. — Hamilton's next plan was 
for a great United States bank empowered to issue money. 
The business men of the country, in attempting to carry on 
trade with all sections, were exasperated beyond measure by 
many kinds of state notes and coins, which had varying 
values in different cities. They wanted a currency that 
would have uniform value in all regions from Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, to Savannah, Georgia. 

The bank was also bitterly attacked in Congress. The 
farmers and planters viewed it as another part of the 
scheme to build up a " money power '' ; but, in spite of their 
opposition, the bank was founded in 1791 and branches were 
soon started in all important cities. 

3. The Protective Tariff. — Hamilton's third plan was for 
a special duty or " protective tariflF" on manufactured goods 
coming into the United States from foreign countries. He 
argued that if no duty were charged on such articles, Ameri- 
can factory owners who were just getting a small start in 
business could not compete with the old and established con- 
cerns of England because they could not sell as cheaply. 

The protective tariff was sharply criticized, especially by 
Congressmen from the South. They held that the farmers 
would have to pay the tax. If there was no tariff, it was 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 185 

said, they could sell their wheat, corn, cotton, and other 
produce abroad and import cheap manufactures in return. 
If there was a tariff, they would have to add the tax to the 
European prices of the articles which they bought. In spite 
of the criticism, however, the very first revenue law passed 
by the first Congress was drawn up partly for the purpose 
of protecting American manufactures — at least by moder- 
ate taxes laid on imported goods. 

Hamilton's Measures Violently Opposed. — In the battle over 
these great measures it was clear, first, that very many 
men were bitterly opposed to them ; and, secondly, that the 
strongest opposition came from the farming regions, par- 
ticularly of the South. The friends of the measures were 
to be found in the larger cities Kke Boston, Providence, 
Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. It 
took very clever management on the part of Hamilton to 
secure enough favorable votes in Congress to enact these 
laws, and even after they were passed opponents kept up 
their criticism. 

At length Thomas Jefferson, who was Secretary of State 
under President Washington, openly joined Hamilton's 
political enemies. Jefferson had assisted in the compro- 
mise which resulted in the funding and assumption of the 
debt, but he had violently opposed the bank. For a while 
he continued to hold office under Washington, even though 
he was an outspoken critic of the government. In 1793 he 
resigned and retired to his estate in Virginia, where he as- 
sumed the leadership of those who were opposed to Hamil- 
ton's program. 

The Whisky Rebellion. — Opposition to the government 
broke out in an armed revolt in 1794, known as the Whisky 
Rebellion. In order to meet the interest on the great public 
debt, and to pay the expenses of the government, a tax 
had been laid on whisky. This angered the farmers of the 



1 86 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

western districts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Caro- 
lina, many of whom turned their grain into whisky. When 
the government placed a tax on it, the farmers resented this 
action. In Pennsylvania some of them sacked and burned 
the houses of the tax collectors, just as the Revolutionists 
thirty years before had mobbed the British agents sent over 
to collect the stamp tax. Washington and Hamilton were 
prompt in calhng out the troops and the affair passed off 
without much bloodshed. Nevertheless, it made many 
farmers criticize the federal government more severely than 
ever. 

The Rise of the Two Great Political Parties. — Out of 
these controversies there grew two great pohtical parties. 
Those who supported Hamilton's measures — which were 
in fact the measures of the new federal government — were 
called " Federalists." Those who opposed them were called 
" Anti-Federalists," or " Republicans." The Federalists 
were accused of being in sympathy with Great Britain — of 
being " monarchists." On this account, the Anti-Federalists 
took the simpler title of " Republicans " to indicate their 
hatred of everything that savored of monarchy. 

1. Federalist Policy. — -Hamilton was the leader of the 
Federalists. He believed in making the national government 
strong, and in using it to protect commerce and industry 
against foreign competition. He wanted to build up in 
America an industrial as well as agricultural nation. 

2. Anti-Federalist Policy. — Jefferson was the leader of 
the Anti-Federalists. He wanted to strengthen state rather 
than federal government. He thought that a free government 
could long endure only where the mass of the people were 
independent farmers owning their own land, and he deliber- 
ately made himself the spokesman of what he called " the 
landed interest." He opposed turning the United States 
into a manufacturing nation, because he believed that the 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 187 

" mobs of the great cities add just so much to the support 
of pure government as sores do to the strength of the 
human body." The contest between Hamilton and JeflFer- 
son was therefore a contest over two ideals of government. 



11. Relations with Europe 

The French Revolution (1789). — While this division into 
political parties was taking place in the United States, mo- 
mentous events were happening in Europe. A few weeks 
after Washington was first inaugurated, in 1789, the French 
king had been forced to call a national parliament. Three 
years later there occurred a popular uprising in France and 
a republic was established. The following year the king and 
queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were executed. 
The townspeople and peasants overthrew the monarchy, 
nobility, and clergy (see pp. 10-13). They drew up con- 
stitutions for their own government, and proclaimed prin- 
ciples of liberty which shook the thrones of Europe. Thus 
the French, who had borrowed much from the American 
Revolutionists, joined in spirit the new Republic across the 
sea. At the same time a war broke out between England 
and France, which was destined to last, with a slight inter- 
mission, until the final overthrow of Napoleon in 1815. 

In America the Republicans approved the French Revo- 
lution, and applauded France in her war against Great 
Britain. Moreover, they had not forgotten that in the dark 
hours of the American Revolution France had helped with 
men and money. 

Troubles with England. — Although the Federalists wanted 
to keep out of the European conflict, American commerce 
abroad involved the country in grave difficulties. England 
claimed the right to seize American produce bound for 
French ports and American ships engaged in carrying 



1 88 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

French goods. The Americans contended that only military 
suppHes were Hable to seizure, and that as " free ships made 
free goods " American vessels should not be captured merely 
because they happened to have French goods on board. In 
spite of such protests, the British continued to hold up 
American merchant vessels ; and in addition to seizing goods 
and ships, they began to carry off any British-born sailors 
found on board. 

Neutrality and the Jay Treaty. — Naturally enough, this 
conduct on the part of Great Britain raised a hue and 
cry in the United States. The Republicans, who sympa- 
thized with France, made much of Genet, the French repre- 
sentative to the United States government, and openly 
denounced the British minister, although the United States 
was supposed to be neutral. The Republicans demanded 
war on Great Britain, or at least some kind of retaliation 
for the seizure of American produce, ships, and men. 

Washington and Hamilton, however, feared that a second 
war with Great Britain might be a ruinous affair, and 
that it would disturb the funded debt, the bank, and the 
tariff, which had been secured by such hard labors. More- 
over, they thought that those Americans who sympathized 
with the French Revolutionists were dangerous citizens, 
likely to overturn the newly established American govern- 
ment. Washington requested France to recall Genet for 
his imprudent conduct in this country. He also issued a 
famous proclamation declaring the absolute neutrality of 
the United States, and sent the Chief Justice, John Jay, to 
Great Britain to make a treaty disposing of the matters in 
dispute between the two countries. 

Jay succeeded in negotiating a treaty in which he secured 
very few favors indeed for the United States. Great 
Britain agreed to withdraw her soldiers from American posts 
in the northwest, where they had been since the close of 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 



189 



the Revolution, and to grant a few additional concessions ; 
but she would not stop seizing American goods and sailors 
on the high seas. Washington, however, was able to keep 
the country out of the war, though he made many enemies 
at the time by his stand for neutraHty and the unpopular 
Jay treaty. 

John Adams Elected President. — In the midst of the 
bitter party fight, the time for the third presidential 
election arrived. Washington had 
been reelected in 1792 amid the 
hearty rejoicing of the country, 
and many citizens urged him to 
accept a third term in 1796. Al- 
though he was not opposed to 
another term on principle, he was 
growing weary of the duties of office 
and disliked the party wrangling 
that was going on around him. Ac- 
cordingly he refused to accept re- 
election. 

The Federalists, after casting about for a candidate, 
selected John Adams, of Massachusetts. The Republi- 
cans, of course, turned to Jeff'erson, their acknowledged 
leader. The political campaign which followed was a very 
savage one indeed ; the parties roundly abused each other. 
Adams was elected by a majority of only three electoral 
votes. Jeff'erson, who had received the next highest num- 
ber of votes, had to content himself with the office of Vice 
President. 

Before Washington laid down his burdens he delivered 
his famous Farewell Address, in which he warned his coun- 
trymen to avoid, as far as possible, becoming embroiled in 
the quarrels of European nations, and urged them to shun 
the evils of partisanship at home. 




John Adams 



190 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Trouble with France. — By a singular circumstance Wash- 
ington's successor, Adams, was able to make the Fed- 
eralist party very popular for a few months. The Direc- 
tory, which was composed of the chief executive officers of 
the French Republic, was angry with the United States 
on account of the Jay treaty, because it had hoped that 
America would join France in her war on Great Britain. 
The Directory accordingly refused to receive the Amer- 
ican minister until the United States made " amends." 
Adams thereupon sent to France a special mission of three 
distinguished citizens. As soon as they arrived, the French 
government demanded from them an apology for past con- 
duct, a payment in cash, and a tribute to France as 
the price of continued friendship. President Adams told 
Congress the truth about these demands, not mentioning 
the names of the Frenchmen who made them, but referring 
to them as Mr. X, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z (hence the term, 
"X Y Z Mission"). 

The news of this insult made even the Republicans 
angry at France, and they joined with the Federalists in 
shouting, " Millions for defense; not a cent for tribute." 

As France, like England, was preying on American 
commerce with European countries, the United States felt 
compelled to prepare for retaliation. In the fervor of the 
moment, Joseph Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, wrote the 
patriotic song, " Hail, Columbia." Fighting on the sea 
actually began, and Captain Thomas Truxton in command 
of the American ship Constellation won the applause of the 
country by brilliant exploits against French ships. This in- 
formal "war" went on until 1800, when it was brought 
to a close by a treaty with Napoleon, who had become 
First Consul of France. 

The Alien and Sedition Laws. — If the Federalists had 
been more careful, they might have defeated the Republicans- 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 191 

again in the election of 1800; but in the excitement of their 
victories over the French they made some fatal political 
mistakes. They passed in 1798 two famous laws known as 
the Alien and Sedition Acts, (i) The Alien law gave the 
President the power to expel any alien from the United 
States who was not acceptable to the government. Al- 
though this law was not enforced, it angered many of the 
French and Irish who had recently migrated to this coun- 
try. (2) The Sedition law, which was vigorously enforced, 
provided that 'anybody who sharply criticized the govern- 
ment of the United States or any officer thereof might, on 
conviction, be fined and imprisoned. 

Before long, several editors of Republican newspapers 
found themselves in prison or compelled to pay fines that 
impoverished them. Bystanders at political meetings who 
abused the President or Congress were seized and sent to jail. 
At once JeflFerson and his followers rose in wrath against the 
law, declaring that it was a monarchical attempt to sup- 
press freedom of the press and of speech in this country. 

The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. — Jefferson 
quickly prepared a set of resolutions condemning the 
Alien and Sedition laws. These resolutions were adopted 
by the Kentucky legislature and soon became famous as 
the " Kentucky Resolutions.'' In addition to condemning 
the laws in question and declaring that they violated the 
Constitution of the United States, the Kentucky resolu- 
tions announced the doctrine that the Constitution was 
a contract or agreement among the states as partners, and 
that any state could decide when a law of Congress violated 
the terms of the agreement. Kentucky even went so far 
as to declare that any state could compel its citizens to 
disobey an unconstitutional federal law; that is, " nullify'' 
it. This is the doctrine of " nullification," of which we 
shall hear again later. At the same time, Jefferson's friend. 



192 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



James Madison, drafted a set of milder resolutions, which 
were passed by the legislature of Virginia. 

The legislatures of several northern states replied that 
the doctrine of nullification was false and that the Supreme 
Court of the United States alone had the final power 
to decide disputes between the federal government and 
the states. 

Jefferson Elected President. — During the excitement 
over the Alien and Sedition laws and the troubles with 

France and Great ' Britain, the 
election of 1800 took place. The 
Federalists held a " caucus " of 
their members in Congress and re- 
nominated President Adams, while 
the Republicans again put forward 
JeflFerson for President and Aaron 
Burr of New York for Vice Presi- 
dent. In the campaign which en- 
sued, many bitter and hateful 
things were said on both sides. 
The Federalists made a hard fight, 
but they were defeated. When the electoral vote was counted 
it was found, however, that Jefferson and Burr each had 
seventy-three votes and were tied for the ofllice of President.^ 
As a result of this tie, the choice of President was thrown 
into the House of Representatives, where the Federalists 
held the balance of power. It looked for a time as if Burr 
would be made President; but, largely by the efforts of 
Hamilton, the Federalists in the House were induced to cast 
their votes for Jefferson. 

^ The original Constitution required the presidential electors to vote for two 
persons, without indicating which office each was to fill, and the person who 
received the highest number of votes (if a majoritjO became President. The 
candidate receiving the next highest number of votes became Vice President. 
This was changed by the twelfth amendment. Sea Appendix, p. 656. 




Thomas Jefferson 



THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 193 

So the great party of Washington, Hamilton, and Adams, 
which had guided the new government through the trials 
of its first years, was driven from power forever. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. When did the new Constitution go into effect? 
2. What part of the country did not wish to have the federal 
government assume the debts incurred during the Revolution ? 
Why? How was the controversy settled? 3. What was Ham- 
ilton's purpose in planning for a national bank ? Why were his 
plans opposed? 4. What is meant by a "protective" tariff? 
Why were the farmers generally opposed to a protective tariff? 
5. State the causes of the "Whisky Rebellion." 

II. I. What effects did the French Revolution have in the 
United States ? What political party in this country showed 
especial sympathy for the revolutionists in France ? Why ? 
Why did Washington ask the French government to recall 
Genet ? 2. Describe the difficulties that American commerce 
had to meet because of the war between England and France. 
Why did England claim the right to search American ships for 
British-born sailors? 3. What led to the troubles with France? 
Why are these referred to in the text as an "informal war" ? 
4. What were the "alien and sedition" laws and why were 
they passed ? Why were they opposed ? 5. State the principles 
laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. 

Review: i. State the important differences between the Fed- 
eralists and the Republicans. 2. Make a list of the most 
important events in the administrations of Washington and 
Adams. 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Prepare and be ready to give to the class an interesting 
description of Washington's election and inauguration. 

See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," Vol. i, ch. iii ; 
Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 181-197; 
Hart's "Source Book," pp. 181-183. 

2. The French Revolution was one of the most important events 
of the world's history. Find out all that you can about it, espe- 
cially about its causes and results. 

o 



194 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

See Tappan's "England's Story," pp. 313-317; Guerber's 
"Story of Modern France," pp. 53-119. 

3. The federal government offered to redeem the paper money 
that had been issued by the Continental Congress during the 
Revolution, but at only one per cent of its original value. Why 
was the government justified in refusing to redeem this money 
at its face value ? 

Interesting accounts of the depreciation of this paper money 
will be found in Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," 
pp. 218-220, and Hart's "Source Book," pp. 157-159. 

4. Why is Alexander Hamilton looked upon by historians as one 
of the greatest of American statesmen ? 

See Southworth's " Builders of Our Country," Book 11, pp. 97- 
107. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 
I. The Party of the Farmers in Power 

When the news that Jefferson was elected spread through- 
out the country, his followers rejoiced that the " Great 
Revolution," so long desired, had come at last. The 
FederaHst party — the party led by merchants, traders, 
manufacturers, and financiers of the seaboard — had been 
driven from power. The Republicans, whose leader was 
first of all a friend of agriculture, were in control. 

The Domestic Policies of Jefferson's Party. — On March 
4, 1801, JefFerson was inaugurated President — the first at 
the new capital, Washington. He discontinued the tradi- 
tional practice followed by Washington and Adams of 
reading their addresses to the assembled Houses, and 
adopted the plan of sending his messages to Congress in 
writing — a custom that was continued unbroken until 
I9i3> when President Wilson returned to the old example 
set by Washington. 

The Republicans then started their reforms. They had 
complained of the great national debt, and they began at once 
to pay it off as fast as possible. They had denounced com- 
merce and a great navy to defend it, and accordingly they 
reduced the number of warships. They had objected to 
the internal revenue or excise taxes, and these they speedily 
abolished, to the intense satisfaction of the farmers. They 
had protested against the heavy expenses of the federal 

195 



196 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



government, and to lower these they discharged a large 
number of men from the army and abolished many federal 



r*--^. 






Prairie du Ohien 





Wms Eng. Co.. N.F. 



The Extent of Territory Settled in 1790 

offices. Having thus swept away everything that seemed 
"monarchical" and "un-American," the Republicans turned 
their attention to what they thought would be the per- 
manent national interest — agriculture. 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 197 

Instead of a " little America '* along the seaboard, look- 
ing to Europe for trade, for the refinements of life, and, 
perhaps, for ideas of government, there was now to be a 
greater America, looking westward to rich valleys and fer- 
tile fields, where miUions could Hve and work completely 
indifferent to the Old World, with its kings, princes, and 
nobles. The Federalist party had looked with alarm on 
the growth of the West and Southwest; the Republican 
party rejoiced in opening the wilderness to pioneers and 
planters. 

Prospects of Future Development Chiefly Agricultural. — 
Those who, like Jefferson, feared the growth of industrial 
cities, could now hope with more assurance than ever 
that the United States would always be primarily a nation 
of farmers. Only the most imaginative dared to picture 
a coming age when the population would be thirty times 
larger than it was when Washington was inaugurated. 
Only the dreamer fancied a day when all the vast stretches 
of forest, swamp, wilderness, and valley would be thickly 
settled, and when cities would spring up in lonely spots 
where only the low lapping of waters or the howl of the 
wolf could then be heard. 

The Abundance of Land. — In the Northwest Territory, 
which now embraces the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, there were, at 
the end of the Revolution, not more than five thousand 
white people. Many of them were French settlers living at 
the posts founded in the days of French rule. To the south 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, there were only about one 
hundred thousand white people in 1790, vigorous and hardy 
pioneers who had pushed over the mountains from Virginia 
and the CaroHnas, and estabHshed themselves in scattered 
settlements here and there in the wilderness. Thus it 
seemed, at the opening of the nineteenth century, that 



198 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



there was plenty of land in the regions just west of the 
original thirteen states to satisfy the land hunger of the 
American people for a hundred years. 

The Louisiana Country : Napoleon Appears on the Scene. 
— Yet, strange to say, Jefferson had not long been in office 
before there was talk of buying still more land — the vast 




The First Capitol of Ohio at Marietta 



Louisiana Territory, stretching from the Mississippi River 
to the Rocky Mountains. This great domain had fallen to 
Spain at the close of the Seven Years' War, in spite of the 
fact that its settlements were inhabited by French. French 
explorers, like Joliet, Marquette, and La Salle, had been the 
first to make extensive journeys through the Mississippi 
Valley, and French pioneers had established posts at New 
Orleans, St. Louis, and many points in the river region. 
The names of Baton Rouge, Iberville, Cape Girardeau, 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 199 

and other towns suggested that the territory belonged of 
right to France. Nevertheless it was all handed over to 
Spain in 1763, and held by that country for nearly forty 
years, when another turn of fortune brought it back for a 
brief period to the old owner. 

In 1800 Napoleon, having swept over all western Europe 
with his victorious armies, began to dream of a new French 
colonial empire beyond the seas. He had forced Spain to 
sign a secret treaty ceding Louisiana to France, and had 
started to make arrangements for landing troops at New 
Orleans, before his new plans were discovered by the other 
countries. . 

The People of the West Covet the Louisiana Territory. — 
Meanwhile the people of the western part of the United 
States had decided that they wanted the Louisiana country 
for themselves. After the Revolution, some of them had 
gone across the Mississippi and found rich lands for settle- 
ment. Those who had hilly farms in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee sought more fertile and level fields to the west. 

There was still another reason why Americans on the 
frontier coveted the western bank of the Mississippi. The 
farmers raised wheat and corn and cured bacon and hams 
which they exchanged in the East for manufactured goods 
and " ready '^ money. The long land journeys over the 
Appalachian Mountains were trying and tedious, and the 
freight rates were very high. The only easy way to the 
East was down the Mississippi and around the Atlantic 
coast. Cloth and nails and other manufactures could be 
brought over the mountains, but such bulky products as 
grain and meat simply had to go by the water route. 

At the gateway of the Mississippi stood a foreign power. 
Naturally that power looked with misgivings upon the 
westward expansion of the American people and sought to 
put obstacles in the way. Privileges which President 



2CX> THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Washington had secured from Spain in 1795 were suddenly 
withdrawn in 1802. Then just as suddenly came the news 
that Louisiana had been ceded to Napoleon, whose armies 
were feared throughout the world. Americans on the 
eastern seaboard, who had been indifferent to the clamor of 
frontiersmen about their corn and bacon, could not be 
bhnd to the dangers of a French empire at their own back 
door. 

The Crisis. — The whole country was stirred. The call 
for war ran throughout the western border, expeditions were 
organized to prevent the landing of French troops at New 
Orleans, and President Jefferson was flooded with petitions 
for instant and firm action. In the end fortune favored the 
United States. Napoleon changed his mind about colonies. 
The war in Europe, which had been stopped for a few 
months, was renewed, and he could not therefore spare 
men enough to occupy Louisiana. He came to see that it 
was folly for him to attempt to hold that territory as long 
as Great Britain controlled the seas. The hour had come 
for^heroic action on the part of the American government, 
for the fate of the nation hung in the balance. 

IL The Louisiana Purchase and the Exploration of 
THE New Territory 

The Louisiana Purchase (1803). — Jefferson was fully 
alive to the importance of the issue. He determined to 
open special negotiations with Napoleon looking toward 
some kind of settlement. He therefore sent James Monroe 
to Paris with power to buy New Orleans and West Florida 
for two million dollars. To Robert Livingston, however, 
belongs the real credit of securing Louisiana to the United 
States. He was the American Minister to France, and be- 
fore Monroe arrived, he had convinced Napoleon that it 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 20I 

would be wise to sell territory which might be wrested from 
him at any moment by Great Britain. 

Realizing that he would have to give up Louisiana, 
Napoleon suddenly, on April ii, 1803, offered to sell 
the whole domain for .fifteen million dollars. He was de- 
nounced in Spain and France for betraying both coun- 
tries, but he had made up his mind and nothing could 
change it. The Treaty of Purchase was accordingly drawn 
up and signed on April 30, although the American agents 
were not empowered by their President to buy so much land 
or spend so much money. 

The Reaction against the Purchase. — When the news of 
the treaty reached the United States, the people were 
filled with astonishment, and no one was more astonished 
than Jefferson himself. He had thought of buying West 
Florida and New Orleans at a cost of two milHon dollars ; 
now a vast wilderness was to be turned over to the United 
States at more than seven times the sum he had expected 
to spend. A cry went up at once against the whole business. 
Jefferson's political enemies, particularly the Federalists of 
New England, denounced the scheme and demanded that 
the treaty with Napoleon be rejected by the Senate of the 
United States, where it had to go for approval. 

Jefferson s Decision. — Jefferson himself was much puz- 
zled. He doubted whether the federal government had 
the power to purchase new territory, because there was 
nothing in the Constitution about acquiring more land. 
He disliked adding so much to the national debt. On the 
other hand public opinion in the South and West seemed to 
favor the purchase, and his advisers told him that under 
his power to make treaties he could arrange to buy terri- 
tory. He finally came to the conclusion that it was wise to 
close the bargain. The Senate promptly ratified the treaty. 
In December, 1803, the French flag was hauled down from 



202 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 







The Stars and Stripes were raised over the government building i^J^^f^.^^ Square New 
me^^hmlo^^^^ Territory was formally transferred to the United States. 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 203 

the old government buildings in what is now Jackson Square 
in New Orleans, and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted, as a 
sign that the land of Coronado and De Soto, Marquette 
and La Salle, had passed under the dominion of the United 
States. 

The Extent of the New Territory. — Thus by a single 
stroke the original area of the United States — even then 
sparsely settled — was doubled. While the boundaries of 
the purchase were somewhat uncertain, it is safe to say that 
the Louisiana Territory included what is now Arkansas, 
Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South 
Dakota and large parts of Louisiana, Minnesota, North 
Dakota, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. The farm 
lands which the " little Americans '^ on the eastern coast 
declared to be a hopeless wilderness that could never be 
settled, were within a hundred years fully occupied, and 
valued at slightly less than seven billion dollars, — nearly 
five hundred times the price paid to Napoleon. The faith 
of those who looked far into the future was justified. 

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). — Jef- 
ferson at once began to prepare the way for the opening 
of the Louisiana Territory by sending an expedition to 
explore the new country, discover its resources, and lay 
out an overland trading route to the Pacific — a plan which 
he had long had in mind. 

After securing an appropriation from Congress to make 
the survey, he chose as leaders his private secretary, Meri- 
wether Lewis, a young man only thirty years old, who had 
seen military service and frontier life, and William Clark, ot 
Louisville, an experienced frontiersman. 

Lewis and Clark Reach the Pacific. — Soon a party of 
brave adventurers was made up and went into regular 
training for the journey. There were carpenters for wood- 
work ; blacksmiths for iron work ; expert hunters to sup- 



204 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ply the company with game; cooks and sugar makers. 
They engaged in target practice and took daily exercise so 
as to be hardened for the dangerous trip. When at length 
they were ready, in May, 1804, they set out from their camp 
opposite St. Louis in a boat fifty-five feet long equipped 
with a sail and twenty-two oars. Slowly they made their 
way against the swift and shallow current of the Missouri 




The Regions Explored by Lewis and Clark and by Zebulon Pike 

River, always on the watch to avoid the sand bars and trunks 
of fallen trees. In spite of the hardships and perils of hostile 
Indians, they pushed upward through what is now the Da- 
kotas. At the end of the year they found their way blocked 
by the Great Falls of the Missouri in central Montana. 

At this point Captain Lewis left the party and journeyed 
alone across the Rockies to the Columbia River. There he 
found a young Indian woman, Sacajawea, who guided 
the entire company to the Pacific. They lingered here 
long enough to form some notion of the country, to pre- 
pare their maps, and to finish writing their journal. The 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 205 

return journey was far easier, and they were able to reach 
St. Louis in September, 1806, after having covered 8000 
miles in two years and four months. When the story of 
this heroic exploit was pubHshed, the East began to realize 
what a mighty empire awaited the coming of the pioneer. 

The Explorations of Zebulon Pike. — The same year 
that Lewis and Clark started for the Far West, Lieutenant 
Zebulon M. Pike, at the head of an expedition, ascended 
the Mississippi to Leach Lake, not far from the Canadian 
border. After his return from this journey he was sent out 
in search of the source of the Red River, which then formed 
the boundary between Louisiana and the dominions of 
Spain. 

While exploring in a southwesterly direction he came to 
the Arkansas River, where he encountered a band of Pawnees 
with scarlet coats, bridles, and blankets of Spanish origin. 
From these Indians he learned that the Spaniards had 
heard of his arrival and were coming to capture the entire 
party. Undaunted by this. Pike kept on his way west- 
ward until he climbed the famous peak which now bears his 
name, and reached the v/estern slope of the Rockies. There 
he turned southward and crossed the Rio Grande unwit- 
tingly into Spanish territory, where he was captured and 
taken to Santa Fe, and then south into Mexico. When 
the Spaniards learned from his papers that he was merely 
exploring the region and had no intention of seizing any 
of their territory, they sent him back to the Red River 
boundary of the United States. 

Thus by three expeditions, one by Lewis and Clark and 
two by Pike, the North, the Far Northwest, and the West 
were mapped out with greater accuracy than ever before, 
and the people of the East who were ready for migration 
were informed of the opportunities for trade and settlement 
in the Louisiana Territory. 



2o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

III. Florida; The Pacific Northwest 

Still the land hunger of the Americans was not satisfied. 
The Father of Waters was open to the sea, but all the 
southern states and territories east of the Mississippi were 
cut off from the Gulf of Mexico by the Floridas, which were 
in the possession of Spain. Here was ground for dis- 
satisfaction akin to that which had arisen when Spain con- 
trolled Louisiana. 

The Florida Question. American Occupation. — ^A move- 
ment was, therefore, set on foot to take possession of West 
Florida, on the theory that it really belonged to the United 
States, and to secure East Florida by some method. 

President Monroe instructed General Andrew Jackson 
to put down an Indian disturbance in the southwest 
and to capture the marauders, even if it was necessary 
to follow them over into Spanish territory. Jackson 
took this as a hint that he was to occupy the Floridas. 
He wrote to the President that if the possession of them 
was desired, he could accomplish it within sixty days. 
Without waiting for an answer to his letter he started, and 
in the spring of 1818 he had practically conquered the 
coveted region. 

The Florida Purchase. — Spain made the best of the affair 
by handing the territory over to the United States, in return 
for an agreement on the part of the latter to pay American 
citizens certain claims against the Spanish government to 
the amount of five million dollars. 

On February 22, 1819, the treaty of cession was signed, 
and the southern boundary of the United States east of 
the Mississippi was extended to its "natural" Hmits.^ At 
the same time the two countries agreed upon the bound- 
ary between Spanish Mexico and the United States — a Hne 

1 Florida was admitted to the Union as a state in 1845. 



THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 207 

running from the mouth of the Sabine River in a direction 
northerly to the Pacific Ocean. 

Thus, before a quarter of the new century had elapsed, 
the original area of the United States had been more than 
doubled and the boundaries pushed to the Gulf of Mexico 
on the south, and to the Pacific on the west. 

The Oregon Country in Dispute. — ^In the Pacific region, 
however, the rights of the United States were contested by 
Great Britain. As early as 1670 King Charles II had 
chartered the Hudson Bay Company, which laid claim to 
all the distant lands to the north and west of Canada. 
The Company in due time put a veritable army of hunters, 
trappers, and explorers in the wilderness ; far and wide its 
agents went into the Pacific country, opening up out-of-the- 
way places and gathering stores of furs and skins to be sold 
in European markets. In 1 791-1795 George Vancouver, a 
navigator in the service of the British government, ex- 
plored the entire west coast, and gave to the world a map 
of the shore from San Diego, California, to Cook's Inlet in 
Alaska. The island which he circumnavigated, north of 
the Strait of Juan de Fuca, bears his name. Citizens of the 
United States also were interested in the Far Northwest. 
While Vancouver was making his celebrated voyage. Captain 
Robert Gray, of Boston, sailed around Cape Horn and up 
along the coast, discovering in 1792 the " River of the 
West,*' to which he gave the name of his good ship — 
"Columbia." On the basis of the explorations made by 
Gray and other captains, the United States undoubtedly 
had valid claims on the Pacific shore. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why did Jefferson refer to the defeat of the Federalists 
as a "Great Revolution".? In what sense did the country now 
"face to the west" and in what sense had it previously "faced to 
the east" .? 2. Mark on an outline map the boundaries of the 
Louisiana Territory. How did Spain come into possession of this 



208 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

territory? How did France regain it? 3. Why did the Ameri- 
can settlers west of the Alleghenies object to the ownership of the 
Louisiana Territory by a foreign power ? Why was Napoleon 
willing to sell these lands to the United States ? 

II. I. When and for what price did the United States pur- 
chase the Louisiana Territory ? 2, What part of the country 
objected to the purchase? For what reasons? 3. Name a few 
of the resources of the territory, then little understood, that have 
much more than repaid the original purchase price. Give other 
reasons for concluding that the purchase was a very good "bar- 
gain." 4. Why did Jefferson send out the expedition of Lewis 
and Clark ? Trace on an outline map the route that Lewis and 
Clark took. What territory did they explore outside of the 
boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase ? What country claimed 
the ownership of this territory at that time? 5. Describe 
Pike's explorations. Why were they important ? 

III. I. Locate the territory known as East and W^est Florida. 
How did the United States come into possession of this territory ? 
2. Why did the United States and Great Britain both claim the 
Pacific Northwest ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Make a list of the reasons for the defeat of the Federalist 
party in 1800. 

See Elson's ''Side Lights on American History," ch. ii; Sparks's 
"The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 218-228; Hart's "Source 
Book," pp. 197-200. 

2. Study in detail one of the following topics of the Lewis and 
Clark expedition. Imagine yourself to be a member of the expedi- 
tion and be ready to give to the class an account of what you might 
have seen and done. 

Topics: (a) Preparing for the journey; (b) events of the 
journey up the Missouri to the Great Falls in Montana; (c) the 
trip from the Great Falls to the mouth of the Columbia ; (d) the 
return journey. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the 
West," ch. i; Elson's "Side Lights on Am.erican History," ch. vi; 
Tappan's "American Hero Stories," pp. 207-217; Hart's "Source 
Book," pp. 206-209; Brigham's "Geographic Influences in 
American History," pp. 275-276; Lighton's "Lewis and Clark" 
(see topics in table of contents). 



CHAPTER XII 
THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 

The last chapter contained an account of the way in 
which the United States overleaped the boundaries which 
had been set by the treaty with Great Britain at the close 
of the War for Independence, and reached out on the west 
to the Pacific Ocean and on the south to the Gulf of Mexico. 
We have come to a far more romantic and moving story — 
the story of how brave pioneers explored and settled the 
millions of acres unoccupied at the end of the Revolution 
and the additional millions acquired from France and 
Spain, and developed those regions into new states. 



I. The Western Country Prepared for Settlement: 
Routes across the Mountains 

The Older States Surrender Their Claims to Western 
Lands. -^ Before the United States could go very far in arrang- 
ing for the settlement of the west it had to decide several 
important matters. In the first place, Virginia, New York, 
Connecticut, and Massachusetts had claims upon large 
areas of the region north of the Ohio and west of the Alle- 
ghenies; so they were loath to see independent territories 
and states set up in that region. Their claims to western 
lands rested on old charters, royal grants, and Indian treaties. 
These were in many respects conflicting, but each state was 
determined to yield none of its pretensions. So heated grew 
p 209 



2IO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the dispute over their respective rights that it threatened 
to break up the Union. Eventually the contestants were 
induced to surrender their lands to the United States and 
permit Congress to dispose of the Northwest Territory for 
the good of the whole nation (p. i68). 

The Government of the Northwest Territory. — Con- 
gress thereupon arranged for a government, surveyed the 
lands, and prepared the way for settlers. By the famous 




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1 






















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5 
















































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BA 


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L 


INE 








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Surveying in the Northwest Territory; the Congressional Township 

Ordinance of 1787 it was provided that there should be 
a governor, secretary, and judges appointed by Congress, 
and that when there were five thousand free males in the 
territory a legislature chosen by the landowners should 
be set up. 

The spirit of a new age was found in the provisions of 
law to the effect that there should be no slavery in the 
territory; that there should be complete freedom of re- 
ligious worship. Furthermore a large amount of land 
was reserved as a trust to supply funds for education. 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 211 



Out of this territory there were later created and admitted 
to the Union the following states : Ohio, Indiana, Hlinois, 
Michigan, and Wisconsin. 




The Northwest Territory, Showing the Boundaries of the States that 
WERE Later Created from It 

The Territory South of the Ohio. — Three years after 
the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, namely, in 1790, 
the Congress of the United States arranged for the gov- 
ernment of the* territory south of the Ohio River. All 
that region was formed into one district for the time being, 
and the people were granted the same privileges as those 



212 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

in the district north of the Ohio. One important ex- 
ception was made, in that slavery was permitted in the 
southern territory. Out of this vast domain the states of 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama in part, and Mississippi in 
part were created and admitted to the Union. 

Barriers and Gateways to the West. — It was one thing 
to provide for the government of the wilderness and another 
thing to get the settlers there safely. In our time, when 
one may leave New York City in the evening and wake up 
the next morning beyond the Allegheny Mountains, it is 
difficult to imagine the state of travel in those old days. 
Except at a few points nature had imposed great barriers 
to the overland traveler. 

- Three of the less difficult routes across the Appalachian 
barrier became very important gateways to the Middle 
West : 

1. To the north, in New York, lay a long level stretch 
opening into the Ohio country, through which the New 
York Central Railroad now runs. 

2. In the middle of the barrier, the Ohio River offered 
gateway to the West and South, and once over the Alle- 
ghenies, the settler had a comparatively easy time floating 
on a raft to his new home. The headwaters of the Ohio, at 
the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, 
where stood the little village of Pittsburgh, naturally be- 
came a point to which lines of travel from the East drew 
together, and from which lines of travel beyond spread 
out. 

3. Farther to the south, the Cumberland Gap offered an- 
other gateway to the West, through which much of the 
emigration from the southern states poured into the back 
country. 

The Four Eras of Travel. — The ease with which travel- 
ers and pioneers could reach the western regions had 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 21 3 

much to do with the number who went and the loca- 
tion of first settlements. So important were the methods 
of travel that historians have rightly divided the de- 
velopment of the western country into four periods, as 
follows : 

1. The forest-trail and old-road era, which extended 
from the earhest time down almost to the end of the eight- 
eenth century. 

2. The river-route epoch, which began near the end 
of the American Revolution and closed when the steam- 
boat appeared on the Ohio River. 

3. The steamboat period, beginning about 18 10, reach- 
ing its height aboAit 1850, and declining since 1870. 

4. The railway period, beginning about 1835. 

The American Epic. — By these methods of travel tens 
of thousands of men, women, and children passed from 
the eastern shores over the mountains and spread in 
every direction, until they had conquered the wilderness, 
filled the plains, occupied the valleys and the mountain 
fastnesses, and at length reached the very edge of the 
continent at the Pacific Ocean. If the forests and plains 
and deserts] and canons could speak, what a story they 
could tell of the visitors that have passed by: singly 
or in pairs or companies, now blazing their way through 
trackless forests, now laying out treeless plains into farms, 
now searching for mines and treasure in the mountains, 
now staggering hot and thirsty across the parched deserts, 
conquering by will and courage all obstacles in their search 
for adventure or gold or a free hom.e ! 

The old and the young, the gay and the gloomy, the selfish 
and the generous, people of all races and all climes have 
tramped or ridden across the vast continent in search of 
El Dorado. Som.e started out with courage and high hopes 
and were murdered by Indians or perished of thirst and 



214 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

starvation by the wayside. Others, poor and lowly, in 
seeking a way westward, found riches and fame. 

The stories of Jason and the Golden Fleece or of the 
wanderings of Ulysses or other ancient heroes are no more 
novel or entertaining than the countless epics and romances 
that may be gleaned from the pages of American history. 
We all read with human interest the story of the wander- 
ing of the Jews from Egypt into their new home, or of the 
Teutonic migrations which overthrew the Roman Empire 
and laid the foundations of modern Europe. The story 
of the western settlement is just as fascinating and exciting. 
As Indian trails are being retraced, portage paths un- 
covered, relics dug up, and old newspapers, diaries, and 
memoirs brought out of dust heaps and trunks to be re- 
printed, we are discovering stories of our own history as 
delightful and thrilling as the tales of Homer which the 
Greeks cherished beyond all measure. 

And what a setting for the story ! There was vastness be- 
yond the comprehension of the little nations of old. There 
were rivers long and wide and deep — the Mississippi and its 
tributaries containing a volume of water greater than that 
of all the rivers of Europe combined, save the Volga. There 
were lakes like oceans — the Great Lakes alone embracing 
nearly half the fresh water of the earth. There were regions 
so far spread that the kingdoms of Europe seem like 
gardens by comparison — the Louisiana purchase alone 
being large enough to contain England, France, Germany, 
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, and Sweden, with land to 
spare. Precious metals were so abundant that the hoard- 
ings of the Mexicans and the Peruvians, which the Spaniards 
seized, seemed trivial by comparison. Such was the herit- 
age that fell to our young nation at the opening of the 
nineteenth century. 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 215 

II. Westward to the Mississippi 

Although the history of western migration forms one 
story, it is necessary, for the sake of convenience, to tell it in 
several parts. The first of them we may call " Westward 
to the Mississippi," although, as we have seen, that chapter 
was not finished before a new one bearing the title "From 
the Mississippi to the Pacific " was opened. 







^I^'R.tt^I^x'Rai. 



A pioneer family would place all its earthly possessions on a flatboat and would float 
swiftly down the current to its destination. 



The Region South of the Ohio First Settled. — The first 
part of our story " Westward to the Mississippi " embraces 
what we have called above the forest-trail and old-road 
era, a period extending from the earliest times down to 
the closing years of the eighteenth century. During this 
period the migration was largely limited to the district south 
of the Ohio River. There were two main causes for this. 

I. Until long after the Revolution the territory to the 
north of the Ohio was controlled largely by the Indians, es- 
pecially after the French lost it in 1763. The Red Men, 
anxious to save their hunting grounds, lurked along the 
rivers to rob and scalp the pioneers. 



2l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

2. There were special reasons why the people of Virginia 
and the Carolinas were ready to leave their homes and 
settle in the wilderness : {a) The land of those states, par- 
ticularly along the eastern shores, was owned in great plan- 
tations tilled by slaves. The poor man could not compete 
with slave labor in the fields, {h) Cotton and tobacco 
rapidly destroyed the fertility of the soil and made neces- 
sary the opening of new lands. (<:) It was easier for the 
frontiersmen of Virginia and the Carolinas to- push over 
into Kentucky and Tennessee than it was for the New 
England farmer to journey across New York or Pennsyl- 
vania into the Ohio country. 

Daniel Boone. — Of the pioneers of this first era in the 
movement to the Mississippi, Daniel Boone is the most 
famous, and in his life is told the story of hundreds of 
others who braved the same dangers. Boone began his 
explorations in the Kentucky region as early as 1769, and 
the year before the Declaration of Independence he had 
established the town of Boonesboro. Before the end of 
the eighteenth century he found the country too " civil- 
ized '' for his restless spirit and crossed the Mississippi 
into Missouri, saying : " It is high time to move when a 
man can no longer fell a tree for firewood within a few 
yards of his cabin door." 

The Movement through the Cumberland Gap. — After 
Boone blazed the way into the Kentucky region, others 
were not long in following. The route laid out along the 
trail through the Cumberland Gap in 1769 was slowly 
transformed into a respectable wagon road. After the 
Revolution the southern seaboard states encouraged the 
settlement of their western lands. In 1788 North Carolina 
opened a land ofl&ce in the Watauga Valley and granted farms 
on easy terms : every head of a family could lay out 640 
acres on his own account, 100 acres for his wife, and 100 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 



217 



acres for each child at the low price of ten cents an acre. 
The next year Virginia offered cheap lands in the western 
regions, on condition that within a year a house be built 
and corn planted on each farm granted. South Carolina in 
1784 invited settlers to establish homes on her Cherokee lands. 
Kentucky and Tennessee. — Residents on the seaboard 
rushed west to get these cheap lands. The blue-grass 







^^ji' 



From a painting by Gilbert White 

Daniel Boone's First Glimpse of Kentucky 



regions were soon filled up. Kentucky, at the close of the 
eighteenth century, had a larger population than Delaware, 
Georgia, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire, among the 
original thirteen states. While Washington was President 
both Kentucky and Tennessee were admitted to the Union. 
No wonder that the eastern states feared that this " New 
West " would soon begin to rule the country. 

The River-Route Period. The Region North of the Ohio 
Opened. — The river-route period, as we have pointed out. 



2l8 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



began with the closing years of the eighteenth century 
and extended to the coming of the steamboat. While the 
regions to the south of the Ohio were filling up, and Louis- 
ville, founded in 1778, was becoming an important trading 
village, significant events were taking place in the North. 
During Washington's term as President the Indians in the 
Northwest Territory were defeated in several severe battles 
and forced to make peace in 1794. The next year the 
British surrendered the forts along the lake regions 











^'^¥;v^^ 



''■^K^ From an old print 



Pittsburgh in 1790 



which they had been holding since the Revolution. The 
Ohio River route was at last safe. 

The Moveme7it down the Ohio and Mississippi. — Soon the 
stream of pioneers began to flow through Pittsburgh. Emi- 
grants from the East went overland to that point, carrying 
their household goods in wagons and driving their cattle. 
At Pittsburgh any kind of boat could be bought — a light 
canoe for one or two passengers, or a barge that would 
carry ten tons of freight, household goods, plows, horses, 
and cattle. When the pioneer family reached the river, it 
would place all its earthly possessions on a flatboat, and, 
guided by a printed chart of the river's rocks and snags, 
it would float swiftly down the current to its destination 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 219 

anywhere between Pittsburgh and the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi. 

Before the end of the century the banks of the Ohio 
were Hned with flourishing trading posts. Wheehng was 
founded in 1769, Marietta and Cincinnati in 1788. After 
the Indian danger was over, these towns grew rapidly and 
became the centers from which people spread outward to 
the northwest. 

Into the region above the Ohio River two streams of 
immigration, one from the North and the other from the 
South, flowed together and mingled their currents in the 
central regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. These 
settlers were not adventurers, but industrious homeseekers 
who " located '' their lands, built cabins, organized govern- 
ment, and "buckled down'^ to the long, hard task of 
creating a civilization in the wilderness. 

Trade zvith the East through New Orleans. — The river 
movement which peopled the banks of the Ohio and the 
Mississippi naturally increased immensely the traffic down 
to New Orleans and outward to the Atlantic coast towns. 
Barges or flatboats holding two or three tons or even more 
of farm produce were floated down to the "Crescent City." 
When the flatboats reached New Orleans, the goods were 
transferred to ocean-going vessels, and the barges broken up 
and sold for lumber, the boatmen returning overland. 

The Need of a Road over the Mountains. — The people 
of the Ohio country, though they sold much of their 
produce through New Orleans, could not take back manu- 
factured articles. These they had to buy from the mer- 
chants in the Ohio River towns, who brought most of their 
supplies over the mountains from the East. This was a 
tedious and expensive way of trading. It cost $125 a ton 
to carry freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, where it 
was distributed to such points as Wheeling, Cincinnati, 



220 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



and Louisville. Often in the spring and in bad weather, 
the overland teams would be stuck in the muddy roads 
and traffic would be blocked for days at a time. 

The need of a well-built road from the coast into the 
Ohio region became apparent even before the end of the 
eighteenth century. After a period of agitation Congress, 
in 1806, passed a law providing for the construction of a 
great national highway binding the East and the West. 

The National Road Opened. — In 181 1, the first con- 
struction contracts were let, and within a few years fast 




Wms. Eng. Co., N.y. 

The Cumberland Road, Showing also the Section on the Western End 
THAT WAS Never Completed 



stages were running between Washington and Wheeling. 
This " National " or Cumberland Road started from Cum- 
berland, wound through Maryland and Pennsylvania to 
Wheeling, and then ran almost straight across Ohio, Indi- 
ana, and lUinois into Missouri. The extreme western end 
was never completed by the United States government 
because of the rise of railway transportation; but the east- 
ern section proved to be a great boon to the pioneers in the 
early days. 

Travel East and West. — Along with the development of 
the freight business, there soon opened a rapid mail and 
passenger service. The United States government con- 
tracted with stage companies to carry mails, just as it does 
now with the railway companies. Every day the Great 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 221 

Eastern Mail left the towns along the national road for the 
East, making the journey at the rate of one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred miles a day. In 1837 the Columbus, 
Ohio, paper boasted that it was able to print the news of 
the death of the King of England and the accession of 
Queen Victoria thirty-eight days after the events had 
happened. When Victoria died, in 1901, the Columbus 
papers chronicled the news on the same afternoon. 

The stages seem always to have been crowded. Sena- 
tors, Representatives, stock buyers, traders, merchants, 
gamblers, cattle drivers, and pioneers traveled the long 
way together, cracking jokes, talking about the campaigns 
of Napoleon in Europe, drinking at the inns, enjoying an 
occasional race with a rival stage or even experiencing the 
excitement of a highway robbery. As the express stage 
would swing past, scattering letters and papers bearing 
news from "back home" in the East, settlers along the 
way would rush out to hear the gossip and get their mail. 
It no longer seemed so far from the old home. Soon the 
less timid began to venture out and the number of settlers 
increased rapidly. 

In 1 8 10, Ohio, then a flourishing state, boasted of more 
than two hundred thousand inhabitants, Indiana had about 
twenty-five thousand, Illinois twelve thousand, and Michi- 
gan five thousand. Before another decade elapsed Indiana 
and Illinois were admitted to the Union. 



Across the Mississippi 

The Admission of Missouri and Louisiana to the Union. — " 
The Louisiana Territory and the rich soil of Missouri at- 
tracted both the free farmers from the East and the 
southern planters with their slaves. The cotton and sugar 
lands to the southward, ^which had already been partly 



222 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

developed by the French and Spanish settlers, invited slave- 
owning planters in large numbers. New Orleans afforded 
a good market, and a touch of civilization which even the 
hardiest pioneer did not despise. It is not surprising 
therefore to find in 1810 about 75,000 inhabitants in the 
lower Louisiana Territory and the people demanding ad- 
mission to the Union. They pointed out that the Treaty 
of Cession to the United States had guaranteed that they 
should in time be permitted to organize a state government 
and enjoy all the rights and privileges of American citizens. 

When their plea was taken up in Congress, it was 
violently opposed by men from the older eastern states ; 
but the party of Jefferson was in a majority in Congress, 
and Louisiana was admitted to the Union in 181 2. A few 
years later (1821), Missouri, with a population of sixty-six 
thousand, found a place among the states after one of the 
hardest fought contests in the history of the country. 

Summary of New States. — By the close of 1821 nine 
new states had been added to the fifteen Atlantic states : ^ 

Kentucky, 1792. Louisiana, 1812. IlHnois, 1818. 

Tennessee, 1796. Indiana, 1816. Alabama, 1819. 

Ohio, 1803. Mississippi, 1817. Missouri, 1821. 

No wonder men of the old generation whose affections bound 
them to the states of the heroic period of the Revolution 
began to talk about the subjection of the Old America to 

the New. 

III. The Life of the People on the Frontier 

. The Essential Democracy of the West. — Most of the 
pioneers of the early days were poor. The great majority 
of them had no earthly goods except what they took over 

^ Vermont, claimed by both New York and New Hampshire, had been ad- 
mitted as the fourteenth state in 1791. Maine was admitted with Missouri 
(P- 370)- 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 223 

the mountains in their wagons. Few, if any, were very 
rich, and there was no upper class such as constituted 
the ruhng element in the eastern and southern states. 
Each frontiersman could readily secure a farm of some 
size and thus become the possessor of his own home. No 
one had to work very long for any one else as a " hired 
hand." The farmer, secure in the possession of his land 
and home, could snap his fingers at the world, knowing 
that the doings of kings, principalities, and the powers of 
Europe, or the course of events beyond the Alleghenies, 
could not deprive him of his daily bread. There was a 
genuine equality of people based on similarity of occupation 
and opportunity, and there was a spirit of liberty unique in 
our history. 

The Pioneer Farmers. — Each family was, in fact, almost 
entirely independent of the outside world. In the fire- 
places, built out of rough stones or logs and covered with 
plaster, wood from the neighboring forest was burned. In 
the huge Dutch ovens or before the fire on the hearth the 
family baking was done. In the corner of the one room of 
the cabin stood the spinning wheel and loom where carpets 
and coarse cloth were made. In the cellars or in caves 
stores of food for the winter were laid by. Among the 
rafters or in a smokehouse hung the hams, bacon, and 
quarters of beef cured for famaly use. 

If a farmer needed a new room to his house or a new barn, 
his neighbors collected on the spot, cut the trees, raised the 
structure, and finished it oflF with a celebration, enlivened 
by drinks from "the little brown jug." If his wife needed 
new bed clothes for the winter, she gathered in the wom.en 
of the neighborhood and held a " quilting bee." Corn 
was shucked at " husking bees," where the young folks 
had rollicking times. When a forest was to be cleared 
for planting, neighbors gathered, cut the trees, and rolled 



224 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the logs up in huge piles for burning. The " log rollings " 
were social affairs in those early times. 

The Pioneer^ s Family. — Young people married before 
they left their teens. When a couple was married, it was a 
common thing for the neighbors to " pitch in " and build 
a cabin on short order ; father would furnish the groom 
with a horse and a cow; m.other would present the bride 




From an old print 
The women of the neighborhood gathered together and held a quilting bee. 

with a few cups, saucers, and pans ; and with crude fur- 
nishings the young people would start their housekeeping. 

There were usually many children, and they always were 
welcome to help with the chores and in the fields. A 
traveler in Kentucky in 1802 said : " There are few houses 
which contain less than four or five children." A Httle 
later another traveler in Ohio declared : " Throughout the 
whole country when you see a cabin you see a swarm of 
children." There were no " leisure-class " men or women. 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 225 

Every man, woman, and child had work to do in helping 
to support the family. Besides the hard housework, includ- 
ing spinning and weaving, most of the women helped their 
husbands in the fields. The old Hnes, 

Man*s work is from sun to sun ; 
Woman's work is never done, 

appHed with peculiar force to the women of pioneer days. 

Dangers and Discomforts of the Pioneer^ s Life. — All 
the people, men, women, and children alike, had to be 
courageous. Life in the wilderness was lonely. Frequently 
it was ten or twenty miles through the forests to the nearest 
neighbor. One of the authors of this book knew a pioneer 
woman who in her youth was accustomed to ride along 
blazed trails for miles, visiting those who were sick or in 
need, and more than once narrowly escaping being killed 
by panthers. When the winters were long and cold, a family 
might be out of touch with the world for months at a time. 
If a person was sick, home remedies usually had to be reUed 
upon, for it might be a day's journey on horse to the nearest 
doctor. When one of the family died, the rest would make a 
rude coffin out of hewn boards and bury the dead, without 
any funeral services, save perhaps a silent prayer, under 
a tree or in an open field, where watch would be kept over 
the body against prowling wolves. One of the most touch- 
ing incidents in Lincoln's career is the death of his mother in 
a frontier settlement in Indiana in 181 8; it was not until 
some months afterward that he could find a preacher to say 
a few simple words over her grave. 

Schools in the New Country. — There was little time for 
the refinements of life, although the pioneers were not utterl}^ 
neglectful of education. From the very first, lands were 
set aside to be sold or rented to furnish money for schools ; 
but the funds were meager, and it was common for the 
9 



226 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

school teacher to add to his or her scanty wage by " board- 
ing round " among the famihes that sent children to the 
school. Naturally only the essentials — " reading ^ritin', 
and 'rithmetic " — were taught at first, and the teachers 
were often almost as ignorant as the pupils. " Keepin' 
ahead of the class '*' was regarded as quite a feat for the 
young teacher. 

The schoolhouses were log cabins with small windows 
generally made of oiled skin or paper. The floor was made 
of " puncheons " — logs smoothed off with the ax and laid 
close together on the earth. Desks there were none. Each 
pupil sat upon a bench made out of a short log split down 
the center and mounted upon four legs. A fireplace fur- 
nished the heat, and generally enough smoke to make the 
children weep. If, in anger at their pranks, the master shut 
the children out of the cabin, the children would reply by 
placing a board over the chimney and " smoke the teacher 
out." It was a fortunate child that received three months' 
" schooHng " out of every twelve. The hard labor of the 
house and the fields left httle time for " larnin'." 

The Influence of Pioneer Life upon Political Opinions. — 
These rude and free and equal conditions of life had a deep 
influence on the poUtical ideas of the people. Protecting 
themselves against man and beast by their own strong 
arms, they had little need to call on the government for 
help. Government meant to them more taxes ; so they 
thought that the less the government interfered with them 
the better. In fact, many of them lived practically with- 
out a government, on the far frontier. What little they 
had in their counties and thinly populated states was simple. 
The public business was not diflBcult, and any fairly intelli- 
gent person could carry it on. It required only a few ofl&cers, 
— sheriffs, keepers of land records, and treasurers. 

So the pioneers thought that there should be a constant 



THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 227 

rotation in office — a passing of the offices from man to 
man in order to give as many as possible a share, and a 
chance at the " ready money " paid as salaries. The 
pioneers were jealous of the rich people of the East, and 
thought that they made too much money out of the "jobs '' 
with the government at Washington. Such were the 
poHtical ideas of the frontiersmen of the West. Soon we 
shall see how they affected the poHtics of the whole country. 

Questions and Exercises 

L I. In what way did the claims of the older states upon the 
western lands delay the development of the western country .? 
How were these claims finally settled .? 2. How did the govern- 
ment of the territory south of the Ohio differ from the government 
of the Northwest Territory.? 3. The Northwest Territory was 
laid out in townships about six miles square. In each township 
one section was reserved for the support of public schools. Find 
this section on the illustration, page 210. 4. Trace upon an out- 
line map the three important gateways from the seaboard states 
to the western country. 

II. I. Why was the territory south of the Ohio settled before 
the Northwest Territory ? 2. Why was the national road con- 
structed ? 3. Trace the course of the road from Cumberland, 
Maryland, through Wheeling, Zanesville, Columbus, and Rich- 
mond to Indianapolis. 4. Determine from a map of the middle 
Atlantic states the number of mountain ridges that had to be 
crossed before the Ohio was reached. 5. How did it happen 
that the westward movement continued beyond the Mississippi 
long before the country to the east of the Mississippi had been well 
settled ? 6. Why was there opposition in the North and East 
to the admission of Louisiana ? Why were the southern people 
more generally in favor of admitting this state ? 

III. I. In what ways did the life of the pioneers who settled 
west of the Alleghenies differ from the life of those living in the 
seaboard states ? Why was the pioneer likely to be more "demo- 
cratic" .? More self-reliant ? 2. Why were the pioneers not 
likely to consider education as important as it is considered 
to-day ? 



228 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Find out all that you can about Daniel Boone and tell what 
he did to make himself remembered as the most famous of the 
western pioneers. 

See McMurry's "Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley," ch. v; 
Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," 
pp. 19-28; Bass's "Stories of Pioneer Life," pp. 33-45. 

2. Imagine yourself a member of a family emigrating from 
eastern Pennsylvania to southern Indiana about 18 10. Describe 
the journey that you might have taken from Harrisburg to Pitts- 
burgh and thence down the Ohio by flatboat. 

See Hart's "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 109-113; 
Bass's "Stories of Pioneer Life," pp. 54-68; Brooks's "Stories 
of the Old Bay State," pp. 174-182; Gulliver's " Daniel Boone." 



CHAPTER XIII 

TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS: THE WAR OF 1812 AND 
LATIN-AMERICAN RELATIONS 

The work of conquering the wilderness, undoubtedly im- 
portant, was by no means the sole concern of the people of 
the United States during the early years of the nineteenth 
century. Although the farmers and planters could readily 
win their daily bread from the soil, they could not live by 
bread alone. They had to have manufactures and other 
goods from abroad ; in order to buy they had to sell the 
produce of their plantations and farms. American shippers 
engaged in this business sailed to almost every port of the 
world. Their success was founded upon the right to range 
the seas and trade with all countries. Without this com- 
merce, ships would have rotted at the wharves, ship yards 
would have been closed, working people and merchants 
would have been idle, and tons of bacon, corn, cotton, 
tobacco, and other produce of the soil would have become 
worthless in the hands of the farmers and planters. 

For this reason, the great war raging between England 
and France, which threatened American commerce, was a 
matter of deep anxiety to our government. 

I. The War in Europe Involves American Commerce 

England and France Blockade the Coast of Western Eu- 
rope. — Great Britain and France wanted to prevent each 
other from receiving goods from the United States. . In 
May, 1806, England, in a determined effort to starve out 

229 



230 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

France, declared that the coast of Europe from the mouth 
of the Elbe River to Brest was blockaded. In other words, 
she served warning on all the other countries in the world 
that her ships of war and her merchant vessels fitted out as 
privateers would seize all ships — no matter to whom they 
belonged — which attempted to enter or leave any ports 
along the coast between these two points. 

Inasmuch as the United States had hundreds of ships 
carrying goods to France, this meant either a destruction 
of our French trade, or, at all events, the seizure of many 
American ships attempting to go into or out of those ports. 
This action on the part of Great Britain was resented by 
the Americans, for it reduced them to desperate financial 
straits. 

Napoleon Forbids Trade with the British Isles. — How- 
ever, they did not receive any better treatment at the 
hands of the French, for Napoleon, in November, 1806, 
replied to the English blockade by forbidding all trade with 
Great Britain. This meant that French war vessels would 
seize American ships bound to or from English ports. Since 
the American trade with England was much larger than the 
trade with France, this was a desperate blow struck at 
American shipowners and merchants and planters, whose 
property was liable to be confiscated at any time by Na- 
poleon's men of war. 

Americans Protests Are in Vain, — Of course the Amer- 
icans made violent protest against such high-handed action. 
Great Britain, a 3^ear later, relaxed her strict blockade and 
declared that any ship bound to France that did not carry 
munitions of war would be permitted to complete its jour- 
ney, if it touched at an English port, secured a license, and 
paid a heavy tax. This slight gain for American interests 
was quickly offset, because Napoleon, a few months after- 
ward, announced that any ship which compKed with this 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 231 

English order, by going into an English port on the way to 
France, would be seized by his government. 

Thus the Americans were, in a sad pHght. Their ships and 
goods bound for England were liable to be captured by the 
French. Their goods and ships bound for France were 
liable to be taken by the English if the order about stopping 
and paying a tax was not obeyed. If they did stop and pay 
the tax they were almost certain to be seized by the French. 
Thousands of Americans interested in this trade, which was 
going to ruin, demanded war — some against France and 
some against England. 

Jefferson a Man of Peace. — Jefferson himself loved peace 
and hated war. Probably there was no man in the United 
States more anxious than he to avoid bloodshed. In fact, 
during the eight years of his presidency (i 801-1809) his 
chief troubles arose from his efforts to keep the peace. He 
sent Commodore Preble over, in 1803, to punish the Medi- 
terranean pirates who were preying on American commerce, 
but he wanted no war with England or France. 

The Embargo Act (1807). — In the emergency, Jefferson 
suggested a remedy which proved to be worse than the dis- 
ease. In 1806 Congress had passed an act prohibiting the 
importation of British goods and merchandise into the 
United States. Jefferson then proposed a more drastic step ; 
namely, that Congress should pass an embargo act forbidding 
all vessels to leave port. Congress accepted his scheme and 
enacted the law in December, 1807. Those who favored 
this plan thought that they would be able to bring both 
France and England to terms by thus cutting off their sup- 
plies from America. 

Hard Times the Result. — The effect of the embargo was 
the ruin of trade. The South and the West especially suf- 
fered, for they were completely dependent upon the exchange 
of cotton, tobacco, and other produce in Europe. The 



232 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

North was in distress also. Shipowners let their vessels lie 
idle in the harbors hoping for a change of policy. Thirty 
out of forty thousand sailors were suddenly thrown out of 
work. The prices of foreign goods doubled. Lumbermen 
and fishermen were reduced to beggary, and farmers offered 
their lands for sale. 

The Embargo Act Repealed; the Non-Intercourse Act 
Passed {i8og). — The laws forbidding trade did not have 




British Naval Officers on Board an American Ship to Search for 
British-born Sailors 

the desired effect in bringing Great Britain and France to 
terms. They only exasperated American shippers and 
merchants all the more. Men who obeyed the laws were 
ruined. Hundreds refused to obey them and sent their 
ships out in spite of the embargo, or smuggled goods over 
into Canada and Florida for shipment to Europe. Con- 
gress was compelled to give some heed to the protests 
which arose. In February, 1809, it repealed the Embargo 
Laws, and passed instead of them a Non-intercourse Law 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 233 

which forbade trade with England and France while per- 
mitting it with all other European nations. As most of the 
trade was with these two countries, this measure gave little 
rehef. 

England Impresses American Sailors. — In addition to 
the quarrel over trade, there was another source of Ameri- 
can irritation against Great Britain. Being in great need 
of sailors for her navy, England had adopted the prac- 
tice of stopping American ships, searching them, and car- 
rying away British-born sailors discovered on board. 
England maintained the doctrine, "Once an Englishman, 
always an Englishman '^ — -a doctrine not accepted by the 
United States. In many cases it was difficult to tell whether 
sailors were English-born or American. Both spoke the same 
language, and, owing to their roving life, they seldom had 
papers showing where they were born or to which country 
they belonged. The English sea captains, perhaps by mis- 
take, carried away scores of men who were real American 
citizens. It can readily be understood how incensed the 
American people must have been when they heard of the 
repeated overhauling of American ships and the seizure of 
American citizens to serve in the British navy. 

Jefferson Refuses a Third Term. — In the midst of these 
troubles Jefferson's second term expired. Some of his 
friends urged him to accept another term ; but he declined 
saying that reelection might become habitual and election 
for life follow. In refusing the third term, he set an exam- 
ple to all succeeding presidents. 

James Madison Becomes President (1809-1817). — Jeffer- 
son's successor, James Madison, was not any better fitted to 
be President in troublous times. He was by temper a 
man of peace, and had been interested in civil government 
rather than in military affairs. He had been a member of 
the convention which drafted the Constitution of the United 



234 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




States. He had helped in securing its ratification. He 
had served many terms in the Virginia legislature, and in 
the Congress of the United States. After the dispute 

bet^veen Hamilton and Jefferson 
arose, he gave his powerful support 
to the Republican party, and as 
their trusted leader was elected 
President in 1808. 

Impressment Continues. The 
Chesapeake A fair. — When Madi- 
son took the oath of office on March 
4th, 1809, he found that he had 
entered a *' hornets' nest." In 
fact, without any declaration of 
war, the American and British 
ships were already fighting on the high seas. Indeed, two 
years before the British ship Leopard had fired on the 
American frigate Chesapeake^ killed three men, wounded 
eighteen others, and seized four sailors. 

Resentment against this was still smouldering when 
another outrage was committed in May, 181 1. A British 
frigate stopped an American vessel near the New York harbor 
and seized another American citizen. This last affair so dis- 
turbed the Americans that even the peaceful Madison ordered 
a warship, the President, to go out and punish the of- 
fenders. The President sighted a British vessel and poured 
several broadsides into it. 



James Madison 



n. The War of 1812 

War Declared against England. — The irregular fighting 
brought on a declaration of war against Great Britain. In 
the Congress that assembled in December, 181 1, there were 
a number of young men, called War Hawks, led by John C. 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 



235 



Calhoun, of South CaroHna, and Henry Clay, of Kentucky, 
who demanded immediate war on England. They moved 
the East by calling attention to the depredations on com- 
merce, and they excited the West by promising the early 
conquest of Canada — and more land. 

As a matter of fact, Napoleon, in his proclamations, had 
shown as httle regard for American rights, but he had not 




Cartoon or the War of 181: 



had the same opportunity to carry his words into effect. 
The Americans had not forgotten that the French had 
helped the United States in the War for Independence ; and 
it was easier to stir up hatred against the former enemy, 
Britain. President Madison, though opposed to war, knew 
that he could not be reelected if he stood out against the 
war party. On June 18, 1812, he approved the declara- 
tion of war on Great Britain by Congress. 

In proclaiming the war the government of the United 



236 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

States declared: (i) that the British had been encouraging 
the Indians to attack American citizens on the frontier; 
(2) that they had been ruining American trade by their 
blockades ; (3) that they had insulted the American flag by 
stopping and searching our ships ; and (4) that they had 
illegally seized American sailors and forced them to serve 
on British war vessels. 

New England against the War. The Hartford Conven- 
tion. — Although this war was very popular in the West 
and South, it was disHked by the New Englanders be- 
cause it actually meant a destruction of their trade on the 
high seas. It was even worse for New England shipowners 
and merchants than an embargo, because, in spite of the 
law, they had been able to slip out some goods and ships. 
Now that war was declared they could not even smuggle, 
and they were compelled to furnish money and men for 
a conflict which they did not approve. 

Some of the citizens of New England approached near to 
treason in resisting the attempts of the United States to levy 
troops there. The Senate of Massachusetts in 18 13 re- 
solved that the war was '* waged without justifiable cause." 
The following year a convention was held at Hartford, 
Connecticut, at which several amendments to the Con- 
stitution were proposed with a view to making it im- 
possible for the southern and western states to control the 
country. 

Misfortunes of the American Armies. — ^Not only was 
the country divided against itself; it was ill prepared for 
hostilities. It relied mainly on raw, undisciplined volun- 
teers and militiamen and could not provide even them 
with sufficient supplies. On the land the Americans won 
little glory, except at New Orleans at the very close of the 
contest. Although they made attacks on Canada and won 
two slight victories at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, on 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 



237 



the whole their losses in the North were greater than their 
gains. They were finally driven out of Canada altogether 
and even compelled temporarily to give up Detroit to the 
British. 

The Capitol at Washington Burned. — In addition to being 
defeated in these attempts in the North, the Americans 




Wma. Eng. Co., N. y. 



Scene of the War of iSj 



suffered the humiliation of having their capital ravaged 
by the British. In August, 18 14, an expedition landed 
from the British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay and marched 
quickly to Washington, where it destroyed by fire the Capi- 
tol, the "White House," and several other public buildings. 
President Madison was forced to flee for his life. The 
American troops stationed near Washington proved them- 
selves so hopelessly incompetent that the British escaped 
without any punishment for this wanton act. 



238 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Naval Exploits. — The unfortunate events on land, 
however, were in part offset by unexpected successes on 
the sea. In 1812 Oliver Hazard Perry, in command of a 
small number of American warships on Lake Erie, defeated 
and captured the entire British fleet stationed there, — re- 
porting his victory in the famous dispatch, " We have met 
the enemy, and they are ours." On Lake Champlain the 



;if '■cm,':! 




The undaunted Perry passed in an open boat from the flagship Lawrence to the Niagara 
in the face of the enemy. 



Americans were likewise successful. On the high seas the 
frigate Constitution, popularly known as Old Ironsides, won 
many victories over British ships. The Argus boldly sailed 
into the English Channel, and destroyed twenty-seven ships. 
In every battle American sailors showed skill and courage. 
Even when the Chesapeake was beaten by the British Sha7inon, 
the gallant American commander, Lawrence, who lay dying 
of mortal wounds, cheered his men by the plucky order, 
"Don't give up the ship." 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 239 

During the two and one half years of the War of 1812, 
the United States government commissioned more than 
five hundred privateers, which captured over 1300 British 
vessels, most of them merchantmen carrying valuable car- 
goes. The American victories at sea seriously disturbed 
the British, who thought their navy invincible, and in 1814 
they sent over a big fleet which put an end to such triumphs 
and blockaded the entire coast of the United States. 

Jackson's Victory at New Orleans (1815). — Indeed the 
war would have been discouraging in the extreme to the 
Americans, if it had not been for an astonishing victory at 
New Orleans where General Andrew Jackson was in com- 
mand. Hearing that the British were coming, his men 
hastily threw up breastworks of earth and cotton bales. 
On January 8, 181 5, the British assaulted the American 
intrenchments, only to be driven back in disorder with a 
loss of more than two thousand men, while Jackson lost 
only seventy-one. The news of this remarkable victory 
brought great rejoicing throughout the country, because 
it was about the only consolation the Americans had dur- 
ing the war. 

The Treaty of Ghent (1814). — There was a certain 
tragedy about this victory, because in December, before 
the battle was fought, American ministers had met the 
British representatives at Ghent and signed a treaty of 
peace. News of the treaty did not reach this country 
until February. When it did arrive, every one was sur- 
prised to find that nothing had been said about the seizure 
of American sailors, the searching of ships, the destruction 
of trade with Europe, or the stirring up of the Indians on 
the frontier. Both countries were heartily sick of the war 
and glad to have peace. The omissions of the treaty, as it 
happened, were not serious, for the European wars were 
brought to a close with the defeat of Napoleon at Water- 



240 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

loo in June, 1815. Great Britain no longer impressed 
sailors, searched ships, and confiscated American goods 
bound for the continent. 

Political Results of the War : The Bank and the Protec- 
tive Tariff. — The chief effects of the war were to be noticed 
in politics at home. The unpatriotic conduct of the Federal- 
ists in New England had disgraced the party, and after 18 16 
it ceased to make nominations for the presidency. On the 
other hand, the followers of Jefferson adopted two leading 
Federalist measures : they established a second United 
States bank in the place of the old bank, the charter of 
which had expired in 181 1 ; and they applied the principle 
of a high protective tariff in their revenue law of 1816. 
(See pp. 249-250.) 

in. The Spanish-American Republics 

The Latin-Americans Throw Off the Spanish Yoke. — 
The foreign troubles of the United States were by no means 
at an end on the signing of the Peace of Ghent. A storm 
cloud appeared in another sky. During the Napoleonic 
wars, the Spanish colonies in South America began to assert 
their independence. Between 1810 and 1825, Mexico, New 
Granada (now Colombia), Venezuela, Peru, Buenos Ayres, 
Ecuador, Chile, and other states, following the example set 
by the United States in 1776, declared themselves to be free 
republics. 

The Holy Alliance. — ^The Spanish king was, of course, 
much distressed at the loss of his colonies, but alone he 
could not conquer them because his army and navy had 
been depleted in the Napoleonic wars. The only hope for 
him lay in securing help from some of the neighboring 
European rulers; and the outlook was favorable. In 1815, 
an agreement, popularly known as " The Holy Alliance," 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 241 

had been made between the rulers of Austria, Russia, and 
Prussia, for the purpose of suppressing in Europe just such 
revolutions as had happened in South America. This al- 
liance of monarchs was regarded in the United States as a 
union of kings to prevent the rule of the people everywhere. 

American Freedom Imperiled. — The Americans thought 
their fears were confirmed when, in 1822, a conference 
composed of representatives of Russia, Austria, Prussia, 
and France, met to discuss revolutions which had just 
broken out in Spain and Italy. The Czar of Russia, 
who by the way coveted the west coast of North America, 
proposed to send an army to Spain to help the king. In 
fact, all the powers except England doubtless would have 
been glad to aid Spain in conquering her rebellious colonies. 

The United States at that time was a small and weak 
country. Only a few years before it had closed an un- 
happy war with Great Britain, and the British still possessed 
great dominions to the north. If Spanish rule had been re- 
stored by the intervention of European monarchs, a strong 
foreign power would have threatened the United States on 
the south and west. If the Czar of Russia had been per- 
mitted to make good his claims to territory along the Pacific 
coast, there would have been a new danger in that quarter. 
Had the United States been thus surrounded by countries 
ruled by monarchs, the future of the republic would have 
been in peril. 

Fortunately England refused to aid the Holy Alliance. 
The English had built up a thriving business with the new 
Latin-American republics, and they were in no mood to see 
Spanish dominion over them restored, for a Spanish mo- 
nopoly over their trade would have followed. This action 
on the part of the British, which really placed the British 
navy between the monarchies of Europe and the New 
World, greatly relieved the Americans. 



242 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




James Monroe 



The Monroe Doctrine (1823). — It was amid these cir- 
cumstances that President Monroe (1817-1825) in his mes- 
sage of December 2, 1823, made a statement to Congress 

which has become famous through- 
out the world as " The Monroe 
Doctrine." He called attention to 
the dangers which would threaten 
the United States in case the kings 
of Europe tried to restore Spanish 
rule in Latin-America. He said 
that he regarded ^* any attempt on 
their part to extend their system 
to any portion of this hemisphere 
as dangerous to our peace and 
safety." 

The President added that we would not interfere with 
the existing colonies and dependencies of European powers, 
but that as to the governments which had declared their in- 
dependence : 

We could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing 
them or controlling, in any other manner, their destiny by any 
European power, in any other light than a manifestation of an 
unfriendly disposition toward the United States. 

In another part of his message President Monroe referred to 
a declaration issued in 1821 by the Czar of Russia claiming 
rights to North American territory extending from the 
Bering vStraits far down along the Pacific coast. In call- 
ing attention to this claim, President Monroe warned the 
Old World that : 

The American Continents, by the free and independent condi- 
tion which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth 
not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any 
European powers. 



TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 243 

In stating this doctrine, which ever since has borne his 
name, President Monroe took an important step. He de- 
clared, in fact, to the powers of Europe (i) that the United 
States would help to maintain the independence of the 
Latin-American repubUcs, and (2) that no European power 
would be permitted, unopposed, to increase its territory and 
dominions on the American continents. Under this doc- 
trine the United States assumed the role of protector of the 
Latin-American countries. It also served a warning on the 
European nations that they could not interfere in the affairs 
of North or South America without involving the United 
States. 

It was a long time before the people of the United States 
were drawn into any more serious controversies with Euro- 
pean powers. From the accession of President John Quincy 
Adams in 1825 down to the Civil War, they were able to 
devote most of their attention to developing industry and 
agriculture at home, and peaceful trade and commerce 
abroad. 

The Czar of Russia, no doubt mindful of the Monroe Doc- 
trine, never pressed his claims in the West. Friendly rela- 
tions were established with Great Britain, even to the ex- 
tent of abolishing all battleships on the Great Lakes and 
all forts on the Canadian border. Compared with the 
armed w^atch on the Rhine this open border between two 
great nations — once bitter enemies — deserves to be classed 
among the achievements of humanity. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why did the war between England and France so 
seriously affect American commerce .? 2. What is meant by an 
embargo on exports ? What were the results of the Embargo act 
of 1807 ? What were the important differences between the Em- 
bargo act and the Non-intercourse act.? 3. How did England 



244 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

justify her policy of searching American ships and impressing 
sailors ? 

II. I. Make a Hst of the events that led to the War of 1812. 

2. Why were the New England states against the war ? 

3. Why were the Americans generally unsuccessful on land ? 

4. Are there any reasons why they should have been more suc- 
cessful on sea? 5. What were the provisions of the Treaty of 
Ghent ? In your opinion were the Americans victorious in the 
Warofi8i2? 

III. I. At what time did the Spanish colonies in Mexico and 
South America win their independence from Spanish rule .? Why 
was Spain unable to resist the movement toward independence .? 

2. What was the *'Holy Alliance" and why was it formed.? 
In what way was it a danger to democracy in America .? 

3. What is meant by the "Monroe Doctrine".? Why was it 
important .? 

Review : Find from the table of Presidents (Appendix, p. 641) the 
number of terms served and the dates of the beginning and ending 
of the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Make 
a list of the important events in each administration. 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Who was Napoleon and what did he do to make his name 
remembered ? 

See Tappan's *' England's Story," pp. 318-322; Guerbers 
*' Story of Modern France," pp. 127-239. 

2. Tell the story of one of the following events of the War of 
1812: 

a. The Constitutio7i and The Guerriere 

See Hart's " How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 243-249. 
h. The Capture of Washington 

See Hart's " How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 274-282. 
c. The Battle of New Orleans 

See Roosevelt and Lodge's " Hero Tales from American 
History," pp. I39-I47- 

3. Give as many reasons as you can, explaining the large in- 
fluence that the Monroe Doctrine has had in American history. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 245 

Outline for Review of Political and Territorial Growth 
OF the New Nation (Chapters X, XI, XII, XIII) 

I. Starting the new government. 

A. The first amendments. 

B. Hamilton's measures for financing the government. 

C. Opposition to Hamilton's measures : the Whisky Re- 

bellion. 

D. The development of the political parties. 

E. Relations with Europe. 

1. Troubles with England due to the French Revolu- 

tion : Jay's Treaty. 

2. Troubles with France. 

a. The X Y Z Mission. 

b. The "informal war" with France. 

F. Domestic problems growing out of the French Revolu- 

tion : The Alien and Sedition laws. 

II. The expansion of the new nation. 

A. The attitude of Jefferson's party toward western de- 

velopment. 

B. The Louisiana Purchase. 

1. Reasons for the purchase. 

a. The desire for m.ore land and for a free water- 

route to the Gulf of Mexico. 

b. The danger of French dominion in the West. 

c. Napoleon's willingness to sell the territory. 

2. Results of the purchase. 

a. Criticism immediately following the purchase. 

b. Expeditions to explore the new territory. 

C. The Florida Purchase. 

III. The organization and settlement of the Middle West. 

A. Surrender by the older states of their claims to western 

territory. 

B. The organization of the Northwest Territory : the Or- 

dinance of 1787. 

C. The organization of the region south of the Qhio. 

D. The gateways to the West and the four eras of travel. 

E. The settlement of the Middle West. 

I. The settlement of the region south of the Ohio. 



246 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

2. The settlement of the region north of the Ohio. 

3. The movement down the Ohio and Mississippi. 

4. The National Road and its effect upon settlement. 

F. The new states. 

G. The life of the people on the frontier. 

IV. The events leading to the War of 181 2 and the war itself. 

A. Events leading to the war. 

1. War between England and France and its effect on 

American commerce. 

2. Attempts by Congress to remedy the situation. 

a. The Embargo Act and its results. 

b. The Non-Intercourse Act. 

3. The impressment of American seamen. 

4. The Chesapeake affair. 

B. The Warof 1812. 

1. The declaration of war. 

2. The attitude of New England : the Hartford Con- 

vention. 

3. American disasters on land. 

4. The naval exploits. 

5. Jackson's victory at New Orleans. 

6. The Treaty of Ghent. 

C. Political results of the war. 

V. The Spanish-American republics and the Monroe Doctrine. 

A. The Spanish colonies win their independence. 

B. The Holy Alliance formed : the danger of this Alliance to 

the United States. 

C. The Monroe Doctrine. 
Important names : 

Presidents: Washington (1789-1797), John Adams (1797-1801), 
Jefferson (1801-1809), Madison (1809-1817), and Monroe (1817- 
1825).^ 

Political Leaders: Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. 

Military and Naval Leaders : Oliver Hazard Perry and Andrew 
Jackson. 

Pioneers and Explorers : Daniel Boone, Meriwether Lewis, Wil- 
liam Clark, and Zebulon Pike. 

European Leader: Napoleon Bonaparte. 
Important dates : 1803; 1812; 1823. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS (1815-1845) 

From the opening of President Monroe's administration 
(18 1 7) to the close of President Tyler's term (1845) every 
section of the country increased marvelously in wealth and 
power. In the Northeast manufactures went forward with 
giant strides ; in the South and Southwest vast wildernesses 
were reduced to great plantations with amazing speed ; and 
in the West the frontier rolled onward in an irresistible 
wave, leaving behind a broad empire of prosperous farms. 
This economic development made a deep mark on pohtics, 
— on the four main issues which absorbed the attention of 
the voters and their leaders : (i) the protection of American 
industries, (2) internal improvements, (3) the sale of public 
lands, and (4) the second United States bank. Before the 
close of the period a fifth issue appeared in full view : 
slavery. 

I. The Protective Tariff 

The Key to the Tariff Issue. — In order to understand 
the first of these issues, the tariff, it is necessary to review 
briefly the history of industry from the Declaration of 
Independence to the War of 1812. When the Revolution 
broke out many factories and foui/dries had already been 
started in the colonies, and as soon as all relations with 
England were severed the Americans simply had to manu- 
facture for themselves or perish. Fortunately they had the 

247 



248 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

initiative and skill to meet the situation. Old industries grew 
to large proportions and new industries were established. 
When peace came it was clear to far-seeing men like 
Hamilton that the Americans could manufacture for them- 
selves ; in other words, could become industrially as well as 
politically independent of Great Britain. 

English Competition for American Markets. — Mean- 
while British merchants and manufacturers were alert. 
Having been unable for a period of seven years to export 
their wares to the New World, they found themselves 
overstocked with woolens, cotton cloth, and hardware. 
They were so anxious to sell this surplus that, when peace 
was established in 1783, they offered it to the Americans 
at 25 per cent below the prices they asked in London. 
They sought in this way not only to dispose of their sur- 
plus, but to win back the American trade the war had cost 
them. They were succeeding, for in the year following the 
Peace of 1783, ^18,397,335 worth of goods was imported into 
the United States, and only $3,746,725 worth exported. 

The Demand for Protection of American Industries. — 
American manufacturers accordingly asked the govern- 
ment to protect them at once against being undersold by 
the foreign manufacturers who were dumping cheap 
goods into the United States. The response came quickly. 
The very first Congress of the United States under the 
Constitution passed a law putting low duties on certain im- 
ported articles which competed with goods made in this 
country. 

Effect of the War of 1812 on American Manufacturing. — 
The War of 181 2 had about the same, effect on trade as 
the Revolutionary War. It cut off goods from England 
again, although some were smuggled into the United States 
in spite of the watchfulness of the government. It forced 
Americans to manufacture more for themselves and got 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 249 

them into the habit of buying all kinds of American-made 
goods. The iron foundries and textile mills were especially 
busy. Hundreds of business men invested money in these 
concerns, and thousands of workingmen and women and 
children were drawn from the farms or from Europe into the 
towns where the mills were located. 

As the London Times said of the Americans: "Their 
first war with England made them independent; their 
second made them formidable." 

England Again " Dumps " Goods on the American 
Market. — At the close of the War of 181 2 the same thing 
happened that had occurred at the close of the Revolution- 
ary War. The Enghsh merchants had on hand surplus 
stocks of goods which they threw into the American 
market at a low price. 

The amount of importations from England in 18 16 rose 
higher than ever. American mills closed down and their 
managers were ruined. The price of wool fell in the home 
market, the surplus wool clip was sent to England, and 
many of the costly Merino sheep that had been imported 
from Spain were killed for mutton and tallow. Iron manu- 
facturers of the seaboard put out their fires. All but five 
of the forty plants of Morris County, New Jersey, were 
prostrated ; the works were sold at auction and the em- 
ployees scattered. The bagging industry of Lexington, 
Kentucky, was wrecked by the flood of cotton bagging 
which was brought in at a price far below the cost of 
production. 

The Tariff of 1816. — Naturally a cry went up again that the 
government should raise the tariff rates and protect Ameri- 
can industries against the cheap goods of Europe. At this 
time the manufacturers of New York, New Jersey, and 
Pennsylvania were joined (i) by the farmers of Ohio, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee, whose wool, hemp, and flax 



250 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

brought better prices in a protected American market than 
in England, and (2) by the sugar planters of Louisiana, who 
could not compete with those of Cuba and Jamaica. 

In New England sentiment about the tariff was divided. 
The mill owners demanded protection for industries ; but 
the shipowners were not in favor of it, because they wanted a 
brisk trade with England which would employ their ships 
at sea. They were afraid that building up home industries 
would reduce the ocean freight.. The demand for protec- 
tion was so strong, however, that in 1816 a law was passed 
raising the tariff to a height which would have shocked the 
members of the Congress that passed the first law of 1789. 

In the early days the farmers and planters generally had 
regarded the protective tariff as a device for the sole benefit 
of manufacturers. Now some of them looked upon it as a 
means for developing a " home market " for agricultural 
produce to take the place, in part at least, of the European 
markets which were likely to be shut off at any time by 
war. 

An Era of Speculation Ends in Financial Panic. — Be- 
tween 1 816 and 1 8 19 there was an era of feverish business 
enterprise — " frenzied finance. '* Business m-en borrowed 
large sums of banks to embark on fanciful schemes. 
Manufacturers, encouraged by the protective tariff, en- 
larged their plants and doubled their output. Companies 
bought up land in lots of thousands of acres, and borrowed 
money on their property in order to buy more tracts. 
Farmers mortgaged their lands to make improvements. 
Large sums were sunk in canals and post roads that could 
not pay dividends. 

A dreadful panic was the result of this craze. Thousands 
of men lost all they had, and the jails were full of people 
who could not pay their debts. Banks issued paper money 
in large quantities, and there were so many kinds of money 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 251 

in circulation that merchants would have to say to cus- 
tomers when asked the price of anything : ** What kind of 
money have you ? " 



II. Political Leadership Still Centered in the 

East 

The Administrations of James Monroe and John Quincy 
Adams. — Although the panic was serious, the country re- 
covered and in a few years prosperity set in again. The in- 
dustries of New England and the middle states flourished 
so vigorously that the rapid growth of the West did not 
overcome for a time the balance of power held on the sea- 
board. 

From 1 801 to 1829 there were four Presidents — Jeffer- 
son, Madison, Monroe, and Adams. All of them were 
eastern men who had been brought up in cultivated 
families, and had had the advantages which come from 
the possession of wealth. None of them had ever been 
compelled to work with his hands. They were all known 
as Republicans, and expressed their sympathy with " the 
people" ; but they were not " sons of the soil " acquainted 
through first-hand knowledge with the hardships and labors 
of the farmers. 

James Monroe, President {i8iy~i82^) : the " Era of Good 
Feeling.^' — The southern and western voters and politicians 
were not yet well enough organized seriously to dispute 
eastern leadership. From 18 16 to 1824, they put forth no 
candidates for President. The Federalist party disap- 
peared from national politics entirely after 18 16, and 
the next few years were called "The Era of Good Feel- 
ing." 

When Monroe was chosen President in 1816, there was 
practically no opposition to him, and he was almost unani- 



252 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



mously reelected four years later. During his adminis- 
tration of eight years there was only one political event 
which threatened to divide the country. That was the 
contest over slavery which resulted in the Missouri Com- 
promise (see page 370). 

The strong action of President Monroe in getting pos- 
session of Florida by seizure and by purchase in 18 19 was 
generally approved (see page 206). His famous message of 

1823 which gave to the world the 
*' Monroe Doctrine " (see page 
242) was heartily applauded and 
greatly increased his popularity 
throughout the country. 

The Campaign of 1824.. John 
Quincy Adams President. — Al- 
though no division into parties had 
occurred in Monroe's administra- 
tions, there was a sharp conflict 
among four distinguished candi- 
dates for the presidency in 1824, 
and the voice of the Southwest was heard in the cam- 
paign. The East was represented in the strife by John 
Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, son of John Adams, the 
second President of the United States. Virginia, which had 
supplied three Presidents in succession, had no prominent 
candidate this time, but the South had three men : 
W. H. Crawford of Georgia, Henry Clay of Kentucky, 
and Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. The contest was so 
close that no one received a majority, but Jackson stood 
first. 

As a result of the division of the votes, the choice of 
President, according to the provisions of the Constitution, 
was thrown into the House of Representatives ; and, by a 
good deal of skillful maneuvering, Adams was elected. 




John Quincy Adams 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 253 

This deeply angered Jackson's supporters, who thought 
that his popular vote entitled him to the office. They were 
still more angry when Adams appointed Clay to the 
office of Secretary of State. They at once declared that 
there had been a " deal " by which Clay helped to elect 
Adams President in return for the promise of an office. 

The " Tariff of Jbominatio7is." — During his adminis- 
tration of four years, Adams was unable to overcome the 
popular hostility aroused by the way in which he had 
been chosen. Like his illustrious father, he was a stern 
and reserved man, not much given to seeking popularity; 
and like his father also, he was unable to secure a reelection 
at the end of his term. His troubles were notably increased 
by the passage of the Tariff Bill of 1828, which became 
known as the " Tariff of Abominations " because it placed 
the tariff on manufactured goods at a higher point than ever 
before. The southern states were greatly incensed over 
it, and their leaders denounced Adams as betraying the 
country for the benefit of the New England manufacturers. 
The division in the country was so marked that the " Era 
of Good Feeling " came to an end. 

Opposition to the Tariff in the South. — The tariff law of 
1828 was criticized by the southern states as "sectional 
legislation " for the benefit of the North. Georgia, South 
Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, and North Carolina declared 
it to be a violation of the Constitution of the United States, 
and a convention was held in Augusta to protest against 
every form of " protection." Northern manufacturers, in 
fighting for the tariff, were developing the industrial Hfe 
in that section. The South, on the other hand, was wholly 
agricultural. Its prosperity depended upon the sale of its 
cotton, especially in England, whose spinning mills and 
looms were the wonder of m.ankind. Manufacturing 
nothing, and having to buy nearly everything, the south- 



254 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

erners held that they should be allowed to make their 
purchases freely in England, where they sold most of their 
produce. They claimed also that the tariff raised the price 
of manufactures, and that the farmers, as buyers of such 
goods, had to pay the difference — in other words, pay 
tribute to American capitalists who owned the mills. 
Southern statesmen like Calhoun, who had voted for jthe 
tariff of 1816, frankly abandoned the principle of protection 
and began to advocate "free trade" with all the world. 
The conflict took the form, in the main, of a struggle 
between southern planters and northern manufacturers. 
The farmers of the West held the balance of power. 

III. Jacksonian Democracy. Power of the East 
Contested 

Jackson Elected President (1828). — With the South 
thoroughly dissatisfied about the tariff, and the West divided 

over the matter, 
Adams was defeated 
in the election of 
1828 by his formi- 
dable opponent, An- 
drew Jackson, al- 
though the contest 
was much closer 
than the friends of 
the latter had ex- 
pected. 

Jackson was truly 

" a man of the 

people." He was 

born in the upland 

regions of South Carolina in 1767. His parents were poor 

farmers, and he was brought up in the hard school of 



HUZZA 


FOR 


Gen. Jackson! 


^i<Ko« 


DOWN 


WITH THE 


YANKEES! 



Much reduced 

Poster Used in the PREsroENTiAL Campaign 



OF 1828 




THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 255 

adversity. In early life he went over into the frontiers 
of Tennessee, where he was known as a brave man, and a 
quarrelsome one. He was a courageous army officer and 
endeared himself to his men by sharing all the hardships 
of campaigns with them, sleeping 
on the ground, and eating parched 
corn when nothing better could be 
had for the common soldiers. He 
was so vigorous in body that he 
was called "Old Hickory." 

When he was elected, therefore, 
in 1828, the common people felt 
that they had a true representa- 
tive in the White House, and 

thousands journeyed hundreds of 

., ... 1 A Andrew Jackson 

miles to see him inaugurated. Ac- 
cording to Daniel Webster, the great crowds at the White 
House " upset the bowls of punch, broke the glasses, and 
stood with their muddy boots on the satin-covered chairs 
to see the people's President." His followers thought that 
a great revolution had come; so they began to drop the 
old name "Republican" and to call themselves "Demo- 
crats" — to show that they were friends of " the people." 

" To the Victors Belong the Spoils." — President Jackson 
expelled from office most of the federal employees, to make 
room for those who had supported him in the race for 
President. This was a new custom Other Presidents had 
discharged very few officers for holding different political 
opinions ; but they had usually been careful, when vacancies 
occurred, to appoint men who were known to be in sym- 
pathy with their own views. 

What Jackson did was to make a clean sweep of the old 
employees in order to find places for a new army of par- 
tisans. Thus a "spoils system" on a large scale was 



256 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

frankly adopted, and everywhere men began to declare 
that " to the victors belong the spoils of victory." In 
other words, men came to believe that those who worked 
hard to win victories in elections should have the offices if 
they won. The tone of politics was lowered by introduc- 
ing a vulgar scramble for government jobs. Statesmen 
denounced it and poets ridiculed It. Calhoun saw in it a 
grave menace to the nation. James Russell Lowell poured 
scorn on it by representing a candidate for President of 
the United States promising a citizen a position as light- 
house keeper in return for his vote : 

Ef you git me inside the White House, 
Your head with ile I kin o' 'nint 
By gittin' you inside the Light-house 
Down to the eend o' Jaalam Pint. 

Nevertheless all the political parties kept up the practice. 

The Tariff Contest Continues. — Jackson soon became in- 
volved in the great controversy which arose between the 
North and the South over the ''Tariff of Abominations." 
The contest over the tariff now became so serious, that it 
threatened to break up the Union. 

The Doctrine of Nullification. — Calhoun was not content 
with merely talking about the effect of the tariff on the 
southern planters. He went further and declared that, 
while Congress had the power to levy customs duties on 
goods coming into the United States in order to raise rev- 
enues, it had no right under that power to be partial to 
any section of the country. He also declared that the 
Constitution of the United States was merely an agreement 
among free states, and that each state had the power to 
prevent the enforcement within its borders of any federal 
law which it deemed to be contrary to the Constitution. 
This principle was known as the doctrine of "Nulhfication." 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 



257 



The Webster- Hayne Debate. — The whole matter of 
nulHfication was argued out in the Senate in 1830, in the 
famous debate between Daniel Webster, Senator from 
Massachusetts, and Robert Hayne, Senator from South 
CaroHna. The latter supported, in a powerful argument, 
Calhoun's view that the Constitution was a mere league 
between sovereign states, from which each one could with- 
draw at will. 




Calhoun, Webster, and Clay 



From a Brady photograph 



Webster, on the other hand, contended that the Union 
was not a league of states, but a solemn agreement made 
by the people of the United States. The federal govern- 
ment, he said, was " made by the people, and answerable 
to the people." He utterly rejected the idea that a state 
had the right to declare null and void an act passed by 
Congress. '* If each state,'' he asked, " has the right to 
final judgment on questions in which she is interested, is 
not the whole Union a rope of sand ? " The theory that a 
state might be in the Union and still refuse to obey the laws 
of the Union was impatiently brushed aside. He ended his 
great speech with the words which were destined to become 



258 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

immortal in American politics, — " Liberty and union, 
now and forever, one and inseparable." His address was 
reprinted by the thousand and sent far and wide as the 
message of American nationalism, warning the country 
against nullification and secession. 

Jackson s Firmness. — Southern statesmen, however, were 
not won over by eloquence. They resolved not to endure 




Jackson's Firmness Shown in His Quelling a Mutiny among His 

Soldiers 



the " Tariff of Abominations " ; and they were all the 
more determined when, in 1832, Congress passed another 
irritating tariff act. The South CaroKnians, under the 
leadership of Calhoun, held a convention elected by the 
voters, which declared the tariff act null and void and pro- 
hibited in that state the collection of the duties. They 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 259 

thought that President Jackson, a southern man, would 
not interfere with. them. 

They had not properly reckoned with their President, 
for he replied that the Union must be preserved, and that 
if force was necessary he would send forty thousand men 
to South Carolina to compel obedience to the law. To 
a citizen of that state he said : 

Please give my compliments to my friends in your state and 
say to them that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in 
opposition to the laws of the United States I will hang the first 
man I lay my hands on engaged in such conduct upon the first 
tree that I can reach. 

He kept his word, and dispatched soldiers and warships to 
South Carolina. He called upon Congress for more power, 
and secured the passage of the " Force Bill," which gave 
him better means for compelling obedience to law. 

The " Compromise Tariff.''' Henry Clay's Leadership. 
— However, a great many people who were not in favor of 
nullification sympathized with the people of South Caro- 
lina in resisting the tariff, and in the end a compromise was 
reached which the southern leaders called " a great 
victory." Jackson was supported in preserving the Union 
and enforcing the law; but the tariff act of 1832 was re- 
pealed, and another law, known as the " Compromise 
Tariff," was substituted for it. Under this new law the 
duties on goods were to be reduced until by 1842 they were 
to be at the point fixed by the law of 18 16. In the arrange- 
ment of this compromise between the North and the South, 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky, took a prominent part. 

Internal Improvements and Public Lands. — ^The country 
could now turn with relief to other issues. Strange as it 
may seem, the question of selling the lands owned by the 
federal government in the West, and the question of spend- 



26o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ing government money on roads and canals, were both con- 
nected with the tariff. The problem that faced the poH- 
ticians of the East and the South was this : 

If the government sold the lands at a high price its revenues 
would multiply, and then the demand of the South for a lower 
tariff would resound louder than ever. If the lands were sold at 
a low price or given away, workmen from the East would rush 
out in larger numbers, and the factory owners would be in straits 
for hands and have to pay higher wages ; then they would need 
a still higher tariff. 

For a time a compromise was reached, in the form of the 
expenditure of large sums on canals and roads — internal 
improvements — to connect the interior regions with the 
seaboard. This appeared to be a patriotic pubhc purpose. 
It also opened markets to eastern manufacturers. Al- 
though the followers of Jefferson had at first favored gov- 
ernment action in building the national road, they later 
changed their opinion. Both Madison and Monroe vetoed 
acts of Congress appropriating money for such enterprises, 
and Jackson followed their example. But the controversy 
over the lands and internal improvements continued long 
after Jackson's day. 

Jackson Reelected; The United States Bank Controversy. 
— While Jackson was busy with nullification in South 
Carolina he had to face the fourth leading political issue of 
this period. In 1791 the federal government had chartered 
a United States Bank with branches all over the country 
(see page 184), and in 18 16 the Second United States Bank 
on the same plan had been chartered for a period of twenty 
years. Soon after its establishment it was violently op- 
posed, particularly by farmers and planters of the West 
and South. They thought that it was a "great money 
power " associated with the manufacturers who benefited 
from the protective tariff. 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 261 

Andrew Jackson shared this view. Shortly after his 
inauguration in iSig he served notice that he was opposed 
to the Bank and would not approve continuing it after its 
charter expired in 1836. The friends of the Bank, under 
the leadership of Henry Clay, met Jackson's attack by 
having Congress pass an act rechartering the Bank. This 
law Jackson promptly vetoed, and in the election of 1832 
Clay, who ran for President against Jackson, made an issue 
out of the question of continuing the Bank. Fie was badly 
defeated by " the Hero of New Orleans." 

The Bank Controversy Continues. — Jackson regarded 
his second election as a popular approval of his war on the 
Bank. Its charter, however, did not expire until 1836, 
and he decided to destroy it by another method. It 
had been the practice of the government to keep millions 
of dollars on deposit in the Bank and its branches. From 
this fund the Bank derived large profits because it was 
able to lend the money at a good rate of interest. In 1833 
Jackson issued an order that the government should put 
no more money into the Bank, and that the funds then on 
deposit should be drawn out as quickly as possible. As 
the new revenues came in, Jackson provided that they should 
be placed in certain selected state banks owned by his friends 
and known as " pet banks." 

Financial Prosperity Ends in the Panic of 1837. — The de- 
struction of the Bank was followed by a great panic in 1837. 
Hundreds of business men failed, more than six hundred 
banks were closed, and thousands of working people were 
again thrown out of employment. The panic lasted for 
nearly five years. 

IV. The Whig Party 

Van Buren and Clay. — When he came to the close of his 
second term, Jackson was able to secure the election of his 



262 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



friend, Martin Van Buren, of New York, as his successor, 
after a close contest. In 183 1 Jackson'^ opponents had 
organized a new party known as the " National Republi- 
cans," or more popularly the *' Whigs/' after the great 
English political party which had once stoutly resisted the 
power of the king. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was a 

brilhant leader among the 
Whigs, and seemed to be 
destined to the presidency. 
But it was not to be. He 
had so many political ene- 
mies that he never reached 
the goal of his ambition. 
His party, however, suc- 
ceeded in winning two vic- 
tories — in 1840 and in 1848. 
Harrison and the Victory 
of 1840. — So strong was 
the opposition to Clay that 
in 1840 the Whigs even re- 
fused to nominate him for President. They chose as their 
candidate General William Henry Harrison, of Indiana, 
who was well known on account of his defeat of the 
Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe (181 1) and also for 
his part in the War of 18 12. As a western man, Harrison 
was popular among the people who loved Andrew Jackson, 
while Van Buren, a candidate for reelection, was attacked 
as an aristocrat who used gold tableware in the White 
House. 

When some Democrat declared that Harrison was a back- 
woodsman whose sole wants were a log cabin and a jug of 
cider, the Whigs took up the insult. They chose a log 
cabin with a coonskin stretched on the outside and a jug of 
cider as their election symbol. Although they put forward 




A Log Cabin, a Symbol of the 
Campaign of 1840 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 263 

no platform showing what they stood for, they were able 
to elect General Harrison. 

John Tyler Succeeds Harrison. — The hero of Tippecanoe 
was not long to enjoy the fruits of victory. When the 
Whigs came to power, they adopted the " spoils system " in- 
troduced by Jackson, and thousands of office-seekers de- 
scended upon him. Within one month Harrison died sud- 
denly, worn out with the troubles of his high office. He 
was succeeded by the Vice President, John Tyler, of Vir- 
ginia, a man who was more Democrat than Whig, and had 
been selected as a candidate in order to draw Democratic 
votes from the South. 

Tyler s Unpopularity. The Webster- A shhurton Treaty. — 
Tyler's administration had few friends. He was disliked 
by both Whigs and Democrats — by the former because he 
did not approve the establishment of another United States 
Bank, and by the latter because he moved so slowly in the 
annexation of Texas, not yielding until the closing days of 
his administration. (See p. 274.) 

During his administration there were only two events 
of striking importance. In 1842 a new tariff law was 
passed, undoing the Compromise Act which had brought 
about a truce between the North and the South in 1833. 
In that same year there was signed by Daniel Webster, as 
Secretary of State, and Lord Ashburton, representing Great 
Britain, a treaty between the two countries which settled 
a long-standing dispute over the northern boundaries of 
Maine. The United States secured a small piece of Canada 
north of Vermont and New York, in exchange for a section 
of Maine to the extreme northeast. 

Tyler's administration was unfortunate for the Whig 
party. In the contest of 1844 the Democrats succeeded in 
electing their candidate, James K. Polk, of Tennessee. By 
this time the country was coming face to face with 



264 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

new issues : the annexation of Texas and the growth of 
slavery. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. In what way had the Revolution stimulated American 
manufacturing industries ? What was the effect of peace upon 
these industries? 2. Compare the effect of the War of 18 12 
upon industry with the effect of the Revolution. Why and in 
what ways did the English attempt to regain the American 
markets after the war? 3. What is meant by a protective 
tariff?. How was the country divided upon this issue and what 
were the reasons for this division ? 

II. I. Compare the political leaders of the West with those 
of the East during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 
2. What is meant by' the ''Era of Good FeeHng" ? 3. State 
the important provisions of the Missouri Compromise. Point 
out on a map the region affected (see page 370). 4. How 
did John Quincy Adams come to be President of the United 
States ? Find and read the provision of the Constitution which 
made this election possible. 5. Why was the tariff of 1828 
known as the "Tariff of Abominations"? 

III. I. Contrast Andrew Jackson with the Presidents before 
his time. In what ways was he typical of the western life ? 
2. What is meant by the "spoils system" in politics? How 
have the evils of the spoils system been lessened in the present 
organization of the federal government ? What appointive officers 
are now generally removed when a new political party comes into 
power? 3. What is meant by "nullification"? What did 
those who defended the rights of the states to nullify acts of the 
Congress think of the union of the states ? 4. What was 
Jackson's attitude toward those who threatened nullification ? 
5. Why did the people of the South and West generally oppose 
the United States Bank ? What people supported the policy of 
the government in maintaining the Bank and why ? 

IV. I. What important changes were made in the names of 
the national political parties during Jackson's administration ? 
Which of the two great parties of to-day more closely resembles 
the party of Andrew Jackson ? To what party did Clay belong ? 



THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 265 

2. Name the important provisions of the Webster-Ashburton 
Treaty. 

Review: Find in table of Presidents (Appendix, page 641) the 
names, dates, and length of service, and political parties of the 
Presidents from Madison to Polk. Who, in your opinion, was the 
greatest of these Presidents and why } Whom would you rank 
second and why .? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Be ready to give the class an interesting talk about the life 
and work of Andrew Jackson. 

See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 
149-157; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American 
History" (description of the Battle of New Orleans), pp. 139- 
147; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," ch. ix. 

2. The presidential campaign of 1840 has been described as the 
most remarkable in the history of the country up to that time. 
Find some of the reasons. 

See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. xii. 

3. Tell the story of the Webster-Hayne Debate. 

See Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," ch. x; 
Brooks's " Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 192-199. 



CHAPTER XV 

WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 

The election of Presidents, the alarms of statesmen, the 
fortunes of poHtical parties did not stay or turn the tide of 
migration flowing westward. While Webster and Hayne 
debated, while Calhoun and Clay disputed over the rights 
of states and the schedules of tariff^ bills as if the fate of 
America hung in the balance, pioneers on the advancing 
frontier were laying the foundations of a new western 
empire. 

What strength ! what strife ! what rude unrest ! 

What shocks ! What half-shaped armies met 1 

A mighty nation moving west, 

With all its steel sinews set 

Against the living forest. Hear 

The shouts, the shots of pioneer. 

The Tended forests, rolling wheels, 

As if some half-checked army reels. 

Recoils, redoubles, comes again. 

Loud sounding like a hurricane. — Joaquin Miller. 

Long before Indiana and Illinois were crowded, or Michi- 
gan and Wisconsin settled, the restless current began to 
press on. Vagrant spirits and home seekers ahke turned to 
the Far West where hfe was full of adventure and untold 
acres awaited the plow. 

266 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 267 

I. Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa; American Settle- 
ments IN Texas 

Missouri Represented Both Southern and Northern 
Elements. — Missouri, with its rich lands and mild winters, 
attracted pioneers mainly from the South — from Virginia, 
the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. To these settlers 
were added a goodly number from the North who came 
down the Mississippi in flatboats. Thus two streams of 
immigration flowed together. 

The Admission of Missouri (182 1). — Naturally the south- 
ern immigrants into Missouri, who owned slaves, took them 
along into the new country. In 1820, ten thousand of the 
sixty thousand inhabitants were bondmen, among whom 
were many skilled artisans, smiths, carpenters, and masons 
as well as field hands. When the time came to make a 
state out of the territory, a contest arose between the slave 
owners and the friends of freedom ; but Missouri was al- 
lowed to come into the Union with slavery as a result of a 
compromise (see page 370). Thus assured, planters came in 
larger numbers than ever, and the farming land was quickly 
taken up. The old French post, St. Louis, grew into a 
thriving commercial city, enriched by the fur trade of the 
West and the steamboat traffic on the Mississippi. 

Arkansas : a New Cotton State. — Below Missouri was the 
territory of Arkansas, where rich valleys suitable for cot- 
ton culture were drawing slave owners in search of more 
plantations. These newcomers found the country already 
partly occupied by *' squatters," who had " just moved 
in " and taken possession of lands without asking the 
permission of any one or taking the trouble to secure deeds 
from the government. They had gone across the Mississippi 
in search of a wild free life, and many of them lived and 
dressed very much like their neighbors, the Cherokee 



268 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Indians. The squatters and planters combined did not 
make a very large population, but in 1836 Arkansas was 
admitted as a slave state to balance the free state of 
Michigan. 

Iowa Settled from the East. — To the north of Missouri 
lay Iowa, where the tall grass on the prairies waved Kke the 
sea and the forests were filled with the blossoms of dogwood 
and wild rose. To this beautiful country came farmers 
and their families, mainly from New England, New York, 
and Ohio, who preferred to settle where the climate and 
the crops were about the same as those to which they were 
accustomed in the " old states, back home." Free men also 
preferred soil where there was no slave labor. Farms spread 
far and wide. By 1836 three trading towns, Dubuque, Dav- 
enport, and Burlington, had been founded on the Mississippi ; 
and ten years later the state was admitted to the Union. 
The advancement of learning was cherished as in the old 
homes, for within a few years numerous academies and five 
colleges had been founded. 

Immigration Spreads to the Far West. — With the ad- 
mission of Iowa in 1846, a tier of states had been formed 
from Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi to Minnesota, 
which was not taken into the Union until 1858, ten years after 
Wisconsin was admitted. Settlers began to move along the 
great reaches of the Missouri River ; then over into the Kan- 
sas and Nebraska region. To the southward, the hustling 
pioneers and planters of Louisiana found themselves blocked 
by the borders of Texas, a part of Mexico. The lands across 
the boundary were fertile, adapted to slave labor, and mostly 
unoccupied ; but they belonged to a foreign government. 

Texas Still Foreign Soil. — At the time of the purchase 
in 1803, the boundaries of Louisiana were not well defined, 
and the people of that territory contended that they lay 
west and south of the points claimed by Spain. However, 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 



269 



the disputed boundary question was settled in 18 19, when 
Florida was purchased, and the border line was so fixed as 
to surrender a large area claimed by Americans in the 
western country. The people of the Southwest were very 
angry about this. They declared that a part of their herit- 
age had been given away to Mexicans and should be won 
back as soon as possible. 




From a print of the times 

The Old French Post, St. Louis, a Thriving Commercial City 

American Immigration into Texas. Moses Austin. — 
Fortune favored them. In 1810 the Mexicans had revolted 
against Spain, and, after years of fighting and disorder, 
they secured their independence. The United States of 
Mexico, a weak union, was then formed, including the 
coveted Texas. Very soon Americans began to cross over 
the line and to settle along the road from the border to 
San Antonio. 



270 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Mexico did not at first resent this immigration. On the 
contrary, the Mexican government invited settlers to come 
and take up the unoccupied lands. It made large grants 
of territory to contractors who agreed to bring a given 
number of famiKes into Texas. Among these contractors 
was Moses Austin, from Connecticut, who had been engaged 
in lead mining in the West. He secured in 1820 permission 
to settle three hundred Americans near Bexar. The con- 
tract was carried out by his son, and the present town of 
Austin was named after him. 

In ten years twenty thousand Americans had gone over 
the border. The Mexicans were frightened, especially when 
the American government made attempts to buy Texas. 

Trouble between Americans and Mexicans in Texas. — 
In a Httle while quarrels began to break out between the 
newcomers and the natives in Texas. The Mexicans, who 
were Catholics, complained that the American Protestants 
did not show the proper respect for their religion, and the 
Americans complained that they had no share in the gov- 
ernment. Fearing that the latter might seize Texas, Mexico 
stopped the colonization schemes, canceled most of the land 
grants, put a tariff on American farming implements, and 
aboHshed slavery. 

Then the Americans already in Texas, the southern 
planters who wanted to move over into that rich territory 
with their slaves, and the pioneers of the Southwest who 
liked adventure for its own sake, determined to get posses- 
sion of Texas at all costs. Many warlike spirits went over 
to help. Davy Crockett, a noted frontiersman, a crack shot, 
and a good story teller, from Tennessee, was one of them. 
James Bowie, of Georgia, who was famous as the inventor 
of the Bowie knife, a peculiar kind of weapon, Hkewise joined 
in the American rush to Texas. Restless men of this type 
could not endure the thought of living under the Mexican 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 271 

government, and they soon made it known that they would 
be their own masters. 



II. Texas a Republic; Its Admission to the Union; 
THE Resulting War with Mexico 

Texas Declares Its Independence from Mexico. The 

Alamo. Sam Houston Defeats Santa Ana, — Although the 
Americans were only about one fourth of the Texas popu- 
lation, they revolted against the Mexican government and 
proclaimed their independence at a convention held in 1836. 
The declaration of independence was signed by fifty-six 
men : three Mexicans, five Americans from free states, and 
forty-eight from slave states. Santa Ana, the President 
of Mexico, hearing of this action, marched northward to 
punish the "rebels," and at the Alamo, an old mission on 
the present site of San Antonio, he absolutely destroyed 
the garrison of soldiers. 

The defense of this fort is one of the most heroic events 
in American military history, for the men fought with des- 
perate bravery to the very last. Santa Ana demanded that 
the Texans surrender, on pain of being executed if they re- 
sisted. The commander of the Alamo answered this with a 
cannon shot, and true to his threat, the Mexican general 
kept up the fight until every member of the garrison was 
killed, even the sick in the hospital. 

A few weeks later. General Sam Houston, who had served 
in the War of 1812 and had been governor of Tennessee, put 
himself at the head of the Texas forces. He completely de- 
feated Santa Ana at the San Jacinto River in April, 1836, 
taking even the Mexican general prisoner. 

President Jackson and the Texan Republic. — The power of 
Mexico being broken, the Texans established a republic with 
General Houston at the head. They then turned to the 



272 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, thinking 
that he would make a treaty with them with the consent of 
the Senate, and admit the repubhc, as a state, to the Union. 
But Jackson hesitated about annexation and went out of 
office in March, 1837, leaving Texas still uncertain as to 
her future. 

Controversy over the Admission of Texas. — There was a 
strong reason for urging delay. The people of the United 




General Sam Houston and His Texas Rangers 

States were divided as to the wisdom and justice of the 
course which Americans had pursued. 

William Lloyd Garrison, of Massachusetts, who was then 
denouncing slavery and demanding its complete abolition, 
declared that the conduct of his countrymen in Texas had 
been outrageous. He urged the northern states to sepa- 
rate from the South and form a free country if Texas was 
brought into the Union. 

John Quincy Adams, who had been President from 1825 
to 1829, likewise opposed annexation, holding that the 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 



273 



Texas Revolution was a slave owners' plot to seize the terri- 
tory of a friendly country. Annexation, he said, was proof 
that the United States, like countries of Europe, was ready 
to follow a policy of con- 
quest and imperialism. 
On the other hand, 
John C. Calhoun, the 
great statesman of 
South Carolina, argued 
that the admission of 
Texas was absolutely 
necessary to the pres- 
ervation of the Union. 
It would give, he said, 
the slaveholding states 
a " balance of power '' 
in the country as against 
the states of the North, 
which were rapidly 
growing in wealth and 
population. 

Texas Finally Admit- 
ted to the Union {18 4§). — The government of the United 
States for a long time took no open steps toward annexa- 
tion. Jackson's successor. President Van Buren, was a 
northern man and really opposed to slavery. During his 
administration, from 1837 to 1841, the admission of Texas 
was out of the question. It is not probable that the Whig 
President, General William Henry Harrison, would have 
brought Texas into the Union, had he lived to serve out his 
term (p. 263). 

Harrison died after he had been in office a few weeks, 
and Tyler, the Vice President, succeeded him. Tyler was 
from Virginia ; he was at heart a Democrat ; and he favored 




50 100 200 



MEXICO 

Wms. Eog. Co., N.Y. 



Texas and the Territory in Dispute 



274 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

slavery. In 1844 he appointed to the office of Secretary of 
State John C. Calhoun, who at once made a treaty with 
Texas, agreeing to annex her to the United States. This 
treaty, however, did not receive the required two-thirds vote 
of the Senate. 

The advocates of annexation then discovered another 
way out. They pushed through both houses of Congress a 
joint resolution (which required only a majority vote) ad- 
mitting Texas to the Union as a state. This occurred in 
February, 1845, just before Tyler's successor, James K. Polk, 
came into office. "The reannexation of Texas" had been 
one of the issues in the presidential election of 1844, and the 
victory of Polk, who had openly favored it, was regarded 
as an approval of the plan by the voters of the country. 

War with Mexico (1846). — Almost immediately after 
the annexation of Texas, a dispute arose between the 
United States and Mexico over the boundary line. The 
Texans claimed all of the land south and west down to the 
Rio Grande River. The Mexicans replied that the right 
boundary was the Nueces River and a line running from 
that river in a northerly direction. President Polk accepted 
the Texan view of the matter, and ordered General Zachary 
Taylor to the northern bank of the Rio Grande to defend 
the possessions of the United States. The Mexicans de- 
clared that this was an invasion of their territory, and they 
fired upon some American soldiers, killing and wounding 
several. President Polk thereupon proclaimed that war 
existed "by the act of Mexico herself," and Congress voted 
money to carry on the armed conflict thus begun. 

The Three Campaigns of the War. — The war which then 
ensued was divided into three parts: (i) General Taylor, 
operating in northern Mexico, defeated the Mexicans at 
Monterey and Buena Vista and occupied the chief points 
in the Mexican states in that region. (2) In the West, 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 



275 



the American naval commanders, Sloat and Stockton, aided 
by the explorer, John C. Fremont, seized California. The 
new possession was made secure by General Kearny, who 
had gone overland from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a 




Wms. Eng. Co. 



Field of the Campaigns in the War with Mexico 

body of soldiers. (3) General Winfield Scott, with a large 
army, landed at Vera Cruz and fought his way slowly up 
to the gates of Mexico City, where, after some parleying 
with the Mexicans over peace, he stormed the heights of 
Chapultepec and took the capital itself. 

Peace Declared {1848). Results of the War. — Defeated 



276 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

everywhere, the Mexicans were forced to make a treaty of 
peace on February 2, 1848. They ceded to the victor Cali- 
fornia, Arizona, New Mexico, and all territory to the north 
and west of the Rio Grande to the borders of the United 
States, in return for fifteen million dollars cash and the can- 




General Scott Entering Mexico 

celing of many claims held by American citizens against the 
Mexican government.^ Thus as a result of the war there 
was added to the United States 523,802 square miles — an 
area greater than the combined area of France and Ger- 
many in Europe. 

^ In 1853 the United States purchased from Mexico a strip of territory along the 
southern borders of Arizona and New Mexico for $10,000,000. This transaction 
was arranged by James Gadsden, and is known as the "Gadsden Purchase." 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 277 

III. Oregon, California, and Utah 

Oregon. — During the trouble with Mexico a controversy 
was carried on with Great Britain over the boundary of 
the Oregon country. That region was claimed by the 
United States because of Gray's discovery of the Columbia 
River in 1792 and on other grounds; but there was much 
uncertainty as to its Hmits on the north. The United States 
asserted that Oregon extended upward to the borders of the 
Russian territory of Alaska, the parallel of 54° 40'. Great 
Britain utterly rejected this claim, and in 181 8 the two 
countries agreed to hold the disputed lands in common for 
ten years, leaving the settlement of the affair until some 
future date. At the time, neither nation appreciated the 
importance of that far-off region. 

Settled by New Englanders. Marcus Whitman. — It was 
not long, however, before citizens of the United States 
began to take an interest in the Oregon country. The 
famous exploit of Lewis and Clark had been described in 
their remarkable journal ; and a popular edition of the work 
issued in 181 1 had made known to thousands of American 
citizens the existence of a country of vast resources, beyond 
the arid plains and the towering mountains. In that year, 
John Jacob Astor's fur hunters had estabHshed a post at 
Astoria near the mouth of the Columbia River. 

In 1835 Dr. Marcus Whitman was sent out to Oregon by 
the American Board of Missions to convert the Indians. He 
soon saw how rich the country was and urged Congress to act 
at once in order to secure American control. The following 
year he made a trip East, and returned to Oregon with a little 
company of settlers, including his wife. Six years later he 
made a special trip East to renew his urgent appeal for aid. 
This time he took back with him to Oregon a large number of 
settlers, who went into the Columbia Valley and built homes. 



278 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



BUSSlAJf. ^-ife,- 
yfER.RITORX-»^ 



SCALE OF MILES 
10b 



Dispute over the Boundary, ^'Fifty-four Forty, or FightJ* 
— Oregon was now becoming famous all over the United 
States. Missionaries of various denominations were active 
in taking out settlers and converting the Indians. In 1843, 

it is recorded that 
875 emigrants 
crossed the famous 
" Oregon trail" ; the 
next year 1800 
people went ; and 
the next year 3000 
more joined the 
forerunners. In 
1843, the pioneers 
in the Willamette 
Valley held a meet- 
ing at Young's 
Ranch (Champoeg) 
and formed a gov- 
ernment for the ter- 
ritory. Having 
braved the wilder- 
ness and set up 
their own govern- 
ment, the Americans 
naturally wanted the boundary question settled, and were 
ready to fight off British interference by arms if necessary. 
In the presidential election of 1844, the Oregon question 
was linked with the Texas question and the politicians 
talked about " the reannexation of Texas " and " the re- 
occupation of Oregon.'' They declared that they would 
have all of Oregon. " Fifty-four forty, or fight " was a 
slogan in the campaign. However, President Polk and his 
advisers preferred to fight Mexicans and avoid trouble with 





—~£ft -^°^'^y ESTAB L ISHED B Y TREA T Y WITH SPAIN , 

^1^ ''^)^^° CONVENTION wirH MEXICO l^vj/^^ 

"' '^"'ii^ Great Salt Lak^^^ 

^1 -%^vM E XI C^^ 

Wms. Eng. Co. 



The Oregon Country and the Disputed 
Boundary 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 279 

the English. So they compromised with Great Britain in 
1846, and surrendered all the American claims to territory 
above the forty-ninth parallel. 

This settlement, unsatisfactory as it was to many people 
in Oregon, at least did away with all uncertainty, and the 
region was organized as a regular territory in 1848. Eleven 
years later, after the territory of Washington had been 
created out of the northern and eastern portions, the 
southern part was admitted to the Union as the free state 
of Oregon. 

California. The Early Trade with Indians and Spaniards. 
— When California was brought under the Stars and Stripes 
by the war with Mexico, 
it was by no means an un- 
known country. Already 
hundreds of roving, enter- 
prising Americans had 
pushed out to the coast and 
traded with the Spanish, or j 

settled down among them 

to till the fertile soil. The "Bear" Flag of the Fiest 

California Government 
After the War of 18 12, 

Yankee ship captains in large numbers began to round Cape 
Horn and visit California with cargoes of hardware, guns, 
ammunition, cloth, blankets, and leather goods. In 1823, 
for instance. Captain Cooper, with the good ship Rover, 
went from Boston to Monterey with a cargo of cotton and 
" Yankee notions," and received a license to trade. Cap- 
tain Cooper loaded his ship with furs and sailed to China, 
where he exchanged his cargo for silks and tea and other 
products, which he brought back to CaHfornia. 

The Santa Fe Trail. — While New England seamen were 
opening ocean commerce with California, landsmen in the 
West were breaking an overland route. Zebulon Pike, 



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-^' 




^^HH^^HH 


-'* s^ 


"^IHP^? 


^iFn 


■i^' 


7 p^^\ 




^-^ 

^H^.'- 


C\L\FO? 


MAREPUBLIC 




.M 






'^ ^ 


, ^ / -' 



28o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

whose famous expedition we have already described, called 
attention in a book published in 1808 to the rich resources 
of northern "New Spain"; that is, the region now included 
in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Pike also 
pointed out how easy it would be to reach Santa Fe from the 
Arkansas River. Thereafter traders with stores of cottons, 




The Overland Trails 

silks, chinaware, glass, hardware, and ammunition journeyed 
from time to time from points on the Arkansas River across 
the desert to Santa Fe, and made large profits by exchang- 
ing their goods for Mexican and Indian blankets, furs, 
silver, and mules. 

In 1825, Congress appropriated money to lay out a trail 
from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe. Later Independ- 
ence became the starting point of the Santa Fe caravans. 
Great trains of wagons guarded by armed men were dis- 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 28 1 

patched annually with goods which had been brought up 
the Missouri by boat. 

Sometimes these trading bands were beset by murderous 
Indians bent on robbing them, or at least stampeding the 
mules to the desert to be caught at leisure. Sometimes 
they lost the trail when sand storms covered it ; and hun- 
dreds perished of thirst and hunger. Still the profits of the 
trade were so large that adventurous drivers and fighters 
could always be found to make the trip. 

From Santa Fe to the Coast. — When once the route to 
Santa Fe was established it was only a short time until a 
trail was broken to the coast. In 1829 Ewing Young went 
overland from a post near Santa Fe to Los Angeles, and 
soon the trail to the coast became as famous as the older 
route to Santa Fe. Adventurers and settlers, finding the 
way open, began to cross the desert and mountains in large 
numbers. In 1847 there were more than four hundred 
Americans in a little settlement of less than two thousand 
on San Francisco Bay. They gave the name of the bay 
to the village and began to transform a humble trading-post 
into a great metropolis. 

Gold Discovered in California {1848). Calif or nia^Admitted 
as a State {18^0). — A mighty rush to California began in 
1848, when it was announced to the world that gold had been 
discovered at Captain Sutter's sawmill raceway in the Sac- 
ramento Valley. Thousands caught the gold fever. The in- 
habitants of San Francisco and other towns deserted their 
shops and homes and went to the gold regions ; captains and 
crews left their ships to rot in the harbor ; miners from 
Europe rushed across the Atlantic and joined Americans 
from the East in the long overland journey, or went around 
Cape Horn ; lawyers, doctors, and editors threw up their 
work to search for gold. It was estimated that one 
hundred thousand people went to California in 1850. The 



282 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

gold output was $5,000,000 in 1848, and $40,000,000 in 

1849- 
On account of the great increase in population the prices 

of ordinary supplies, food and clothing, mounted skyward. 

San Francisco washer- 
women were paid eight 
dollars a dozen for wash- 
ing miners' clothes. 
Little board shanties, 
called hotels, charged 
from seven dollars to 
fourteen dollars a day 
for poor rooms and 
worse board. 

After a few years the 
surface gold was nearly 
all collected, and the 
stream of immigrant 
miners dwindled away. 
Ranching, fruit growing, and manufacturing assumed a 
normal course, and the ** fever of '49 " died down. One 
effect of the miners' invasion was to keep out slavery, and 
in 1850 California was admitted to the Union as a free state. 
The Mormons. — During this rush to the Pacific, the great 
plains and deserts between the fertile Mississippi Valley 
and the coast were neglected except by the fur traders, 
hunters, and adventurers. It was left for a new religious 
sect to brave the barren wastes of that parched region and 
found a prosperous community on the route to California. 
This sect was the Mormons^ or Latter Day Saints. It had 







^ Ow^j>^ ' ' ' ¥rom a painting 

Sutter's Sawmill in the Sacramento Val- 
ley WHERE Gold was Discovered 



^ The name " Mormon " was taken from a prophet, Mormon, who was alleged 
to have compiled certain ancient writings. This " Book of Mormon " was said 
to have been discovered by Joseph Smith and translated by him. It was ac- 
cepted as sacred by the Mormons. 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 283 

been established in 1830 by Joseph Smith, of New York, 
who declared that he had received a revelation from God. 

The Mormons had a troublous time from the beginning. 
They went first to Ohio, then to Missouri, and at length 
settled in Illinois. There they began to practice polyg- 
amy, that is, to alow their men to marry more than one 
wife. This brought down upon them the hatred of their 
neighbors. 

The Mormons Reach Salt Lake. Brigham Young. — 
Feeling that they were persecuted for their religious faith, 
they decided to move to the Far West, in the hope that 
they would be forever out of reach of their enemies. So in 
1847, their new leader, Brigham Young, with af company of 
picked. men and supplies, went out to hunt for another home. 
After a long search he chose a spot overlooking the Salt 
Lake Valley, in Utah, and then went back to bring his 
people with him to their safe haven in the desert, far from 
civilization. Out the band went, in a great train of several 
hundred wagons, and on their arrival they set to work with 
a will " to make the desert blossom as a rose." They verily 
did it. 

They brought water from the mountains to irrigate the 
sandy soil. They built sawmills and gristmills, roads 
and bridges and canals, and soon had flourishing farms and 
thousands ,-^f cattle. Within a short time, the Mormon 
Dojplgfeffbn numbered fifteen thousand people. The dis- 
covery of gold in California was fortunate for them, because 
Salt Lake City became a stopping-point for the westward 
and the eastward trade. The Mormons waxed rich and 
prosperous. Soon they discovered minerals in the regions 
about them, and built mills to work up the ores. 

Utah Territory Organized. — With the advance in trade, 
manufacturing, and mining, the colony grew with great 
rapidity. The Mormons kept agents and missionaries in 



284 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Europe who promised good homes to men and women if 
they would come to the colony in America. President Young 
once sent out this proclamation : 

We want a company of woolen manufacturers to come with 
machinery and take our wool from the sheep and convert it into 
the best clothes. . . . We want a company of potters ; we need 
them, the clay is ready and the dishes wanted. . . . We want 
some men to start a furnace forthwith ; the coal, iron, and molders 
are waiting. . . . We have a printing-press, and any one who can 
take good printing and writing paper to the Valley will be a blessing 
to themselves and the church. 

No wonder, with such attractions, thousands of indus- 
trious artisans, many of them belonging to other religious 
sects, came to the new colony of Deseret, as the Mormons 
called it. In 1850 the Utah country was so populous that 
it was organized into a regular territory of the United 
States. 



IV. Summary of the Far Western Movement 

The immigrants into the Far West may be divided into 
six distinct types : 

1. The fur traders. In the early days the fur business 
was well organized by great companies that sent out gangs 
of men to trap and to trade with the Indians and bring the 
peltries back to the eastern markets. For a long time the 
fur trade was the chief business of St. Louis, the point to 
which the routes from the Far West converged. 

2. The miners. After the discovery of gold in California, 
miners and prospectors scoured all the Rocky Mountain 
regions for precious ores. The rush to California of course 
led to the establishment of many flourishing posts along 
the way, and from these centers explorers began to push 
out in every direction. 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 285 

3. The cattle rangers. When the miners, prospectors, 
and fur traders brought back news of vast reaches of rich 
grass which could be had for nothing, cattlemen took 
out herds, and for a long time cowboys and cattlemen 
roamed at will over the great plains from Texas to Mon- 
tana. 

4. The farmers. After the cattlemen came the farmers, 
who fenced the land and became permanent residents. The 
farmer was usually a different type of man from the ranger 
or the miner. He did not expect to get rich in a hurry, but 
went out with full knowledge of the fact that only by hard 
labor and thrift could he win a competence. Unlike the 
miner or the ranger, he generally took his wife and children 
with him to share his life and labor. 

5. The women. It was not until the West passed into a 
settled agricultural stage that women came in large numbers 
and that homes were founded. The trappers, the early 
miners, and the rangers were commonly roving and lawless. 
Wherever they went saloons and gambling houses flourished 
and shooting affrays were daily occurrences. When women 
came into the West, peaceful and law-abiding communities 
developed and civilized conduct took the place of the 
frontier rowdyism — so eloquently described in Mark 
Twain's "Roughing It." Women not only contributed 
the finer things of civilization ; they did their share of the 
labor in the varied activities of farm life, in doors and out. 

6. Preachers and teachers were early found along the 
western trails and frontiers. The former often had 
more missionary zeal than education, and the gospel of sal- 
vation which they preached stirred rather than edified their 
audiences. Their fiery sermons on everlasting punishment 
seem uncouth to us to-day, but no doubt they helped to 
temper the rough passions of the border sinners. Circuit 
riders, like Peter Cartwright in early lUinois, labored with 



286 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

great heroism to bring men and women to sober and indus- 
trious ways of living. Where churches were founded, schools 
sprang up also and teachers were employed to kindle the 
lamp of learning. 

Whoever journeys to-day over any of the great railway 
lines through these western states to the Pacific can scarcely 
appreciate the hardihood of the men and women who crossed 
the plains and deserts more than half a century ago in wagons 
drawn by mules and oxen. And yet there is nothing more 
wonderful in the annals of exploration and daring than the 
westward sweep of the Americans to the Pacific. There 
is no Plymouth Rock or Jamestown along the Salt Lake, 
Oregon, or Santa Fe Trail to make any single expedition as 
famous as those which laid the foundations of the English 
empire in America ; but there are thousands of spots beyond 
the Mississippi, unrecorded in history, where were enacted 
deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice no less heroic than those 
connected with the beginnings of America on the " cold 
and barren coasts of New England," or in the lowlands of 
Virginia. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Chiefly from what sections of the East did the settlers 
of Iowa come ? The settlers of Missouri .? Why would farmers 
moving westward tend to settle in regions as similar as possible 
to the districts that they had left } 2. What causes led to the 
immigration from the South into Texas .? Why did the Mexicans 
at first encourage and then discourage American immigration .? 

II. I. State the important events that led to the war with 
Mexico. Why was this war unpopular in the North I 2. Make 
a list of the important results of the war. 3. Name the states 
that have been formed from the territory ceded to the United 
States by Mexico at the close of the war. Compare this territory 
as to area, surface, agricultural productions, and mineral resources 
with the territory acquired by the Louisiana purchase. 

III. I. How did the Oregon country come to be settled? 



WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 287 

Give as many reasons as you can explaining the fact that 
Oregon was settled much earlier than the other Pacific and 
Mountain states. 2. Find on the map of North America the 
location of the parallel 54° 40'. What present British possessions 
would be part of the United States to-day if this country had 
made good its claim to the territory bounded on the north by 
this parallel ? Why did the United States not press its claim to 
this territory? 3. What led Americans to California prior to 
the discovery of gold ? Describe the effect of the discovery of 
gold in California. 4. Why were the Mormons persecuted in 
Illinois ? 5. Locate Salt Lake City. Find from your geography 
what the character of the region about the Great Salt Lake is 
and what the Mormons had to do in order to make this region 
their permanent home. 

IV. I. Name the six groups or types of emigrants who suc- 
cessively went from the eastern states into the Far West. Tell 
what each group did to develop the country. 



Problems for Further Study 

1. In your opinion was the United States justified in making 
war on Mexico ? Make a list of the arguments on each side. 

2. Make a study of the three great routes of exploration, trade, 
and travel to the Far West. Be ready to trace each route on the 
map, telling as many interesting facts as you can find about its 
discovery, its advantages and difficulties, and why it became 
important. 

See Hitchcock's "The Louisiana Purchase," pp. 215-221; 
Semple's "American History and Its Geographic Conditions," 
pp. 186-199, 210-213, 217-219; Hart's "Source Book" (brief ref- 
erence to the Oregon Trail), pp. 268-271. 

3. Can it be said that the Texans were justified in their ef- 
fort to secure their independence from Mexico ? 

See in True Stories of Great Americans Bryan's " Sam Hous- 
ton," ch. V ; also Sprague's " Davy Crockett," ch. xiv. 

4. Imagine yourself a gold-miner in California in the days of 
the " 'Forty-niners."' Tell about the difficulties of reaching the gold 
fields, the work of the miners, and the life of the mining camps. 

See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. xiii; 
Hart's "Source Book," pp. 276-279. 



CHAPTER XVI 
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

Great were the changes made in the Kfe of the American 
people by the growth of a numerous farming population 
in the West and Southwest and the " overbalancing " of 
the seaboard by the new states of the Ohio and Mississippi 
valleys. More significant was the revolution brought about 
by the introduction of steam and machinery into manufac- 
turing and transportation. 

If it had not been for the steam engine, machinery of all 
kinds, the railway, the steamboat, and the telegraph, the 
United States would be a nation of farmers even to-day. 
Without these inventions, the big cities like New York, 
Chicago, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Cleveland would never 
have been built. Without them there would never have 
been the immense immigration of European peoples, and 
American enterprise would not have been carried into every 
market of the world where manufactured goods were 
bought and sold. Without them the grave questions of 
capital and labor, employment of men, women, and children 
in factories, regulation of railways and industries, govern- 
ment of cities, and kindred matters would never have come 
to occupy so much public attention. 

It was the wonderful inventions, too, that freed the United 
States from dependence upon Europe for manufactured 
goods. In 1 812, when the federal government was in dire 
need of blankets for the soldiers, it could not, to its chagrin, 

288 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 289 

buy six thousand dollars' worth in all the country; it had 
to permit illegal trading with the enemy in order to secure 
English clothing for American soldiers. And yet, strange 
as it may seem, the very industries which made the country 
independent in matters of business, in time sent American 
traders, merchants, and capitalists to seek markets in 
every corner of the earth, thus drawing the United States 
into rivalry with the great nations of Europe. Steam and 
machinery did more to destroy the world that Washington 
and Jefferson knew than did the opening of the western 
lands to the pioneers. 



I. The Development of Machinery for the Cotton 
AND Woolen Industries 

England's Early Leadership in Industry. — While frontiers- 
men were breaking the way through the forests to the Mis- 
sissippi, enterprising business men and ingenious inventors 
were busy in shops, smithies, foundries, and tool houses. 
They were making contrivances to spin and weave, to 
work iron and steel, to use steam for- driving machinery 
and for moving cars along railways. 

In this enterprise the Americans naturally turned to 
England, for England was taking the lead in all such matters. 
Before the end of the eighteenth century, James Watt had 
successfully used the steam engine in running mills ; Cromp- 
ton, Arkwright, and others had developed spinning by ma- 
chinery instead of by hand ; and Cartwright had invented 
a loom for weaving cloth, which could be driven by steam 
or water power. Other English inventors had learned how 
to use coal instead of wood and charcoal in smelting iron 
ore and making steel. 

These marvelous inventions were making England rich 
and giving her leadership over all nations in the manu- 



290 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

facture of cloth, iron, steel, and nearly all important com- 
modities. England wanted to keep other countries from 
using these patents and becoming rivals, so the EngHsh 
government forbade any one to carry the new machines 
or models or plans for them out of the country. 

English Mechanics Attracted to America. Samuel Slater. 
— With all their efforts, the English were not able to keep 




The Stourbridge Lion, a Locomotive Brought from England in 1829 



their secrets. Shrewd Yankees in New England set 
about making machines of their own with such help as they 
could get from English artisans who came over to the 
United States. Societies of " Artists and Manufacturers '' 
were formed in the leading cities of the North, and ad- 
vertised in England for skilled workmen to erect machinery, 
offering them large rewards for success. 

In response to one of these advertisements by the Phila- 
delphia Society, Samuel Slater, a workman who had been 
employed in Arkwright's spinning mill, came to the United 
States in 1789. He entered into a contract with Moses 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 291 

Brown of Providence, Rhode Island, and built a complete 
spinning mill on the falls of the Pawtucket River. In a 
little while Slater had drawn plans of the machines and 
taught American artisans how to make and operate them. 
In 1 810 steam was used at Ballston, New York, to drive 
spinning machines. It was not long before American 
machine-made cotton yarn and cloth, especially the coarser 
qualities, were acknowledged to be as good as those of 
England. 

Growth of the Cotton Spinning Industry. — In spite of the best 
efforts of the mechanics their progress v/as at first very slow, 
because they had to do almost everything by hand and 
meet English competition besides. In 1804, more than 
ten years after Slater came over, there were only four 
cotton factories running. 

Just about that time war between England and Na- 
poleon was renewed with greater fury than ever, and the 
destruction of shipping on the high seas reduced the supply 
of English goods (see page 230). This gave the opportunity 
so much desired by American manufacturers. A "boom" 
in cotton spinning began. In 1807 there were fifteen cotton 
mills, and four years later there were eighty-seven. 

The Cotton Gin Invented by Eli Whitney. — While clever 
artisans were building machinery for spinning, an observant 
Yankee from Connecticut, Eli Whitney, invented a cotton 
gin, a machine for separating the seed from the cotton. 
Any one who has ever seen raw cotton as it is picked from 
the stem in the field knows that it is filled with small 
seeds to which the cotton fibers cHng as tightly as wax. 
Formerly it took a skillful colored woman a whole day to 
clean a pound or two of cotton by hand. 

Young Whitney, during a stay in the South, saw how 
tedious and laborious this process of cleaning the cotton 
was. He went to work to invent a machine that would strip 



292 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the cotton from the seeds, and he was able to announce 
his success in 1792, just a Httle while after Samuel Slater 
commenced to build spinning machinery in Rhode Island. 
In a short time Whitney's gin was so perfected that, when 




A Cotton Gin, a Simple Machine for Separating the Seeds from the 
Cotton, Invented by Eli Whitney 



driven by power, a single machine could clean a thousand 
pounds in a day. The whole cotton industry could now 
swing forward at high speed, for it was freed from dependence 
upon hand labor. The demand for cotton now became so 
strong that planters could not get enough new lands and 
slaves to supply it. 

The Cotton Weaving Industry. — The yarn made in the spin- 
ning mills was, at first, woven into cloth by hand ; the power 
loom, indeed, was not extensively used even in England 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



293 



until after the first decade of the nineteenth century. The 
yarn was taken from the mills and distributed among 
hand weavers in town and country, who worked it up into 
cloth which was collected by merchants and carried to the 
markets for sale. 

s% 



>^'^''t)'i'^ "^ "f' 









.^«. 











>wwx:'^X- 



^:/jMJm 



'^4 



Washington on a Visit to One of the First Cotton Mills 

It seems that it was not until 18 14 that the first practical 
power loom was established in America — at Waltham, 
Massachusetts, by Francis Lowell. In his factory the 
cotton from the bales was turned into finished cloth by 
carding, spinning, weaving, and printing machines driven 
by power. The work was so simplified that the machines 
became almost automatic, and women and little children 
" of a tender age " could be profitably employed to " mind " 
them, men being needed only for the heavier tasks and the 
making of repairs. 

Rise of the Woolen Industry. — The woolen industry soon 
began to flourish along with the cotton trade. A broad- 



294 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



.^&sQ^^ 



cloth factory, including a carding machine for cleaning 
and straightening the wool fibers, a spinning jenny, and a 
hand loom, had been estabhshed by Schofield Brothers at 

Newburyport, in 1794, 
and later transferred to 
Pittsfield, Massachu- 
setts, where there was 
abundant water power. 
Somewhat later a power 
loom for weaving woolen 
cloth was set up at 
South Kingston, Rhode 
Island, by Rowland 
Hazard. By 1828 a 
complete woolen fac- 
tory, equipped 




A Hand Loom such as was Used in 
Colonial Days 



with 
Step 



power machines throughout, was in operation there, 
by step the work was taken from the homes. 

There are grandmothers in the Middle West who can tell 
how in the old days they had to card, spin, and weave at 
home ; how the carding mills sprang up along the little 
rivers where there were waterfalls ; how the wool was 
carried on horseback or in wagons sometimes twenty or 
thirty miles to be carded ; how, after a while, a spinning 
machine or two would be set up beside the carding 
machine, and how finally with the coming of the railway, 
which made it easy and cheap to bring cloth from New 
England, these little mills were closed and fell into decay. 
The old " overshot " water wheels became moss-grown, 
the roofs of the mills fell in, and the children played about 
the ruins, all heedless of the great change in American life 
which the venerable wrecks recorded. 

The Sewing Machine. Home and Singer. — When the 
spinning and weaving machines had taken the cloth making 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 295 

out of the homes, sewing by hand was still left behind. 
Clothes had to be made with thread, needle, and thimble 
— " the everlasting stitching." Then came a revolution in 
sewing. In 1846 Elias Howe, a poor man who had labored 
for years in a garret, on the verge of starvation and 
amid the greatest trials, at last brought out a sewing ma- 
chine. A little later I. M. Singer introduced the sale of 
this wonderful contrivance on the installment plan, so that 
it could go into the homes of the poorest people. 

By i860 there were over forty thousand sewing machines 
in the United States. It was not long before the sewing 
machine was introduced into factories and operated by 
power. " Ready-made " clothing of all kinds was then 
put on the market at astonishingly low prices — one fourth 
those charged by hand-sewing tailors. Between 1850 and 
i860 the output of the clothing factories increased in value 
from $48,000,000 to $80,000,000 annually. '' Everlasting 
stitching " went on in a new way. 

II. The Iron Industry; Farm Machinery 

The Iron Industry. — The use of power-driven machinery 
could not go very far without large supplies of iron and 
steel. Before the American Revolution there had been 
little iron mines and forges in nearly every state, and char- 
coal had been used to melt the ore down for drawing off 
the metal. After independence had been estabHshed, 
American smiths brought large quantities of soft coal from 
England for smelting purposes; but when the War of 18 12 
cut off the supply, ironmasters of eastern Pennsylvania 
were forced to use native coal. 

The use of the air blast, invented in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, enabled them to make hot fires even with hard 
coal. As the supplies of coal in Pennsylvania were un- 



296 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

limited, the iron industries began to flourish there so rapidly 
that they drove out of business in time most of the little 
forges in the other states. 

Western Pennsylvania Becomes the Center of the Iron 
Industry. — The great development of the iron industry 
in Pennsylvania came after the discovery of iron ore in 
the valley of the Youghiogheny, where a smelting furnace 
was erected as early as 1790. Fifteen years later there 
were five furnaces and six forges in Fayette County. Roll- 
ing mills and steel furnaces quickly followed. Soon the 
valleys of the Allegheny and the Monongahela were dotted 
with mines and furnaces, and Pittsburgh, which had had 
only about four hundred inhabitants when the Constitu- 
tion was adopted in 1788, became a great city. Ore and 
pig irpn were floated down in barges to Pittsburgh, where 
rolling mills, steel furnaces, and iron works turned out 
nails, hinges, locks, plows, axes, spades, knives, skillets, 
sugar kettles, and a hundred other implements and utensils 
used by the settlers of the West. Pennsylvania's iron- 
masters boasted that they could soon supply all the 
needs of the United States, if English iron and steel were 
kept out by a high tariff (see page 248). 

Improvements in Farm Machinery. — With all the in- 
ventions for spinning, weaving, and ironworking, it was 
natural that some geniuses should try to improve the tools 
used by farmers. At the time of the American Revolu- 
tion the farmers' implements did not show much improve- 
ment over those which had been used in the days of the 
Romans. The plowshare and mold board were made of 
wood and easily worn out or broken. Grain was cut with 
a hand sickle or a scythe and cradle, and threshed with 
a hand flail or tramped out by cattle. Toward the close 
of the eighteenth century an EngUsh machine for threshing 
had been introduced in a few places, and an iron plowshare 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



297 







''WWW.^i^^ 



Improvement in the Machinery for Cutting Grain : the Cradle, 
McCormick's First Reaper, and the Self-Binder 



298 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

was sometimes used. A plow with a mold board all cast 
in one piece of iron was patented in 1797, and within 
twenty-five years the wooden plow had almost disappeared, 
though occasionally a wooden mold board was found 
attached to an iron share. 

The Reaper. Cyrus McCormick. — In 1833 Obed Hus- 
sey, of Baltimore, invented a reaper, and in 1834 Cyrus 
McCormick made one in a blacksmith's shop in the Shenan- 
doah Valley. In 1846 McCormick established a manu- 
factory at Cincinnati ; three years later he built a plant 
in Chicago, the center" of the grain-growing region. From 
year to year he improved his machine, until finally it 
reached such a pitch of perfection that one man with a 
team of horses could cut as much grain in a day as five 
or six men with scythes and cradles. At first the machine 
merely cut the grain off and let it fall behind as it was cut ; 
then a carrying-board was attached and a child rode along 
to rake the wheat off at intervals for binding into bundles. 
The " self-rake " which automatically dehvered the grain in 
piles was next developed; about 1880 came the self-binder, 
which cut the wheat and bound it into bundles ; and at last 
there was invented a giant machine, drawn by many 
horses or by an engine, which cut and threshed the wheat 
in one operation. 

Industries in the West. — For a long time, the de- 
velopment of industries was confined largely to the East. 
According to an expert in the figures of business, the 
annual value of American manufactures in the mills 
and in the homes of the people was nearly two hundred 
million dollars in 18 10, and four fifths of the goods were 
produced in five states : Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
New York, and Massachusetts. But it was not long before 
factories began to spring up beyond the mountains, es- 
pecially wherever there was water power, 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 299 

In 1 821 Beaver Creek, Kentucky, boasted of saw and 
grist mills, a carding mill, and an iron furnace and forge ; 
Maysville had a rope factory and glass works ; there was a 
cotton mill at Paris. At Cincinnati, about the same time, 
a traveler found a foundry and nail mill, woolen and cotton 
factories, a tannery, glass works, and a shipyard where 
river steamers were built. To Cincinnati the farmers for a 
hundred miles around hauled their wheat or drove their 
hogs and cattle, and exchanged them for goods made there 
or brought over the mountains to that market. As a visitor 
in 1840 picturesquely put it : " There I heard the crack of 
the cattle driver's whip and the hum of the factory : the 
West and the East meeting." 



III. Improvements in Transportation; Canal 
Development 

The Necessity for Improved Transportation. — All great in- 
dustries depend for their existence on the sale of goods 
over a large territory. No single community can consume 
the output of a huge factory, and in the extension of their 
business it was necessary for men to travel widely with 
samples of their wares. This called for rapid means of 
transportation and communication, linking together all 
sections. American enterprise quickly set to work on this 
problem, and in a little while wonderful results were accom- 
plished. All over the country private companies were 
organized to build turnpikes and canals. State govern- 
ments gave their aid to the undertakings. The federal gov- 
ernment came to the help of the people and built the na- 
tional road connecting Cumberland, near the head-waters 
of the Potomac, with the Mississippi Valley (see page 220). 

The Erie Canal (1825). De Witt Clinton. — The opening 
of the Cumberland route into the West excited the mer- 



300 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



chants of Philadelphia and New York, who wanted direct 
connections of their own. In New York state enterpris- 
ing leaders induced the government to begin a canal con- 
necting the Hudson River with Lake Erie. Under the 




The Erie Canal, Begun under the Direction of Governor De Witt 
Clinton in 1817 and Completed in 1825 

enthusiastic direction of Governor Clinton it was com- 
menced in 1 817, fourteen years after the admission of Ohio 
to the Union, and one year after the admission of Indiana. 
For its day it was a marvelous piece of engineering work, 
greatly exceeding in difficulty the construction of the 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 301 

Panama Canal in our time. It was 363 miles long, and 
although a large portion of the way was level, there were 
numerous hills to be cut through and many rivers, swamps, 
and valleys to be crossed. Wiseacres said it never could 
be done, and they called it " CHnton's Big Ditch " and 
" Clinton's Folly." 

The work was finished in 1825. In the autumn of that 
year the news that the waters of Lake Erie were let into 
the Canal was carried to New York City by the firing of 
cannon all along the Hne at a distance of five miles apart. 
On November 4, Governor Clinton and a party of his 
friends went from Buffalo to New York City on a fleet of 
canal boats. They carried kegs of water from Lake Erie, 
which they poured into the Atlantic as a sign that the 
ocean and the Great Lakes were forever united. The 
ringing of bells and firing of cannon in New York City 
accompanied the grand ceremony in the Hudson River. 

Influence of Canal Traffic on Freight Rates. Other 
Canals. — The effect of the canal was startling. Freight 
which cost $32 a ton per hundred miles by wagon road was 
reduced to ^i a ton by canal route. Barges of wheat, 
corn, bacon, and other farm produce from the lands around 
the Great Lakes began to float down the canal. Buffalo, 
Rochester, and Syracuse soon became thriving trading 
centers. Passenger boats fitted up " luxuriously " made 
regular trips from Albany westward according to schedule. 
Although the traveling was slow, it was safe and sure, and 
quite rapid as compared with the wagon journeys over bad 
roads. In time a chain of canals connected Cleveland on 
Lake Erie with Columbus and Cincinnati and the Ohio River 
to the southward, thus opening a line of water communi- 
cation from the heart of the Ohio region to New York City. 

Canals and Portage Railway in Pennsylvania. — Phila- 
delphia merchants, frightened at the thought of losing 



302 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

their western trade to New York merchants, induced their 
state to construct a system of canals and portages connect- 
ing the coast with the Ohio Valley. The rivers were used 
as far as possible, and canals connecting the rivers were 
built to afford continuous water passage. Wherever canals 
could not be built, rails were laid and the boats and 
cargoes hauled overland on wheeled cars to the nearest 
navigable stream. This was an expensive line to build and 
operate, but it made possible direct connection with Pitts- 
burgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and the other trading points 
on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It enabled the Phila- 
delphia merchants to extend their trade in the West and 
Southwest. The boats which carried cargoes of merchandise 
to the West returned filled with farm products or with 
coal and iron from the Pittsburgh region. 

IV. The Steamboat 4nd the Railroad 

The Steamboat. Robert Fulton {1807). — While the 
states were feverishly planning and building canals, a 
new means of transportation by water was being invented 
and perfected, namely, the steamboat. In the latter part 
of the eighteenth century several inventors had worked 
on the problem of using the steam engine to drive boats on 
rivers and at sea. At length Robert Fulton, in 1807, 
launched his famous steamboat, the Clermont, which made 
the trip from New York to Albany, a distance of one 
hundred and fifty miles, in thirty-two hours, and the return 
journey in thirty hours, with the wind ahead both ways. 
In 181 1 a steamboat was plying the Ohio, and the next 
year steamboats began regular runs from Pittsburgh to New 
Orleans and back. 

Faster Transportation Needed. — The steamboat proved an 
aid rather than a competitor to the canals, for it gave 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



303 



better facilities for carrying freight and passengers to and 
from the points connected by them. At best the canals 
offered slow means of transportation, and often they were 
closed in winter time by ice. A quicker means than the 
steamboat of carrying goods and passengers was demanded. 
Scores of inventors in England and the United States were 
racking their brains for some plan to use the steam engine 
in hauHng wagons and cars. 




Fulton's Clermont, the First Boat Driven Successfully by Steam Power 

Stephenson^ s Locomotive. — ^It had long been a practice to 
lay down stone or wooden tracks for the wheels of wagons 
drawn by horses. There were many of these short " rail- 
roads " both in England and in the United States at the 
opening of the nineteenth century. In 1 8 14 George Stephen- 
son, an EngHsh miner, succeeded in making a steam 
locomotive, " Puffing Billy," which was used in hauhng cars 
over such a road at the mines where he worked. Ten years 
later, the Stockton and Darhngton railroad in the north of 
England was opened. 

The Railroad in America. John Stevens. — American in- 
ventors were alive to what was going on in England, and 
they had plenty of ideas of their own as well. John Stevens, 
of Hoboken, New Jersey, has been called " the father of the 
American railroad," because he early began to experiment 



304 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

with " steam carnages." In 1811, he applied to the legisla- 
ture of that state for permission to build a railway line. He 
was regarded as a dreamer, and the charter was not granted. 
He then applied in New York for permission to build a rail- 
road to Buffalo, to be used instead of the canal. Again 
he failed. Then he turned back to New Jersey, and finally, 
in 181 5, he secured the first railway charter granted in the 
United States, authorizing him to build a line connecting 
the Delaware and Raritan rivers. 

Stevens was unable, however, to induce people with 
money to invest in his scheme. Wiseacres laughed at the 
idea of traveHng at the rate of ten or twenty miles an hour. 
They said it was impossible for a steam engine and a train 
of cars to round a curve. Stevens proved them wrong 
by building a circular track in Hoboken and driving an 
engine with cars around it. Opponents of railroads said 
that it would be impossible to get over the mountains. 
Friends of railroads replied that they would make tunnels 
— " passages Hke a well, dug horizontally through the 
hills or mountains." 

In spite of discouragements, men here and there in the 
country began to build short Knes. The Mohawk and 
Hudson was chartered by New York in 1826, and in the 
same year the Granite Railway from Quincy to Tidewater 
was chartered by Massachusetts. The first line over which 
a steam locomotive was driven was the Carbondale road, 
built in 1828 near Honesdale, Pennsylvania, to connect the 
town with coal mines sixteen miles away. 

Early Railway Lines. — In 1828, the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad Company began to build the first really great rail- 
way system in the United States. The work was opened 
with much ceremony, and Charles Carroll, then ninety- 
three years old, the last of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, turned the first sod, saying that he con- 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



305 



sidered that day's deed second only in importance to his 
famous service on July 4, 1776. After some experiments 
with horse cars, the Baltimore and Ohio adopted steam. 
In 183 1 Peter Cooper's engine, "Tom Thumb," made the 
journey between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills at the speed 
of thirteen miles an hour. 




From photographs of models 

A Horse Car Used on the Baltimore and Ohio ; also Peter Cooper's 
Engine, "Tom Thumb," Later Used on the Same Railroad 

In other parts of the country railway companies were busy. 
In South CaroHna, " The Best Friend," an engine built by 
the West Point Foundry Company, made a trip from 
Charleston to Hamburg in 1830, at a speed of from sixteen 
to twenty-one miles an hour, drawing live loaded cars. In 
1832 the trial trip over the line from Albany to Schenec- 
tady, a distance of seventeen miles, was made in one hour 
by Governor Clinton, of canal fame, and a party of legis- 
lators. When they reached their journey's end they dined 
in state, and among the toasts drunk on that occasion was 
this seemingly wild prophecy : " The Buffalo Railroad — 
may we soon breakfast in Utica, dine in Rochester, and 
sup with our friends on Lake Erie ! " 

The Rapid Railroad Development. — As soon as the 
railway was found to be a success, a perfect frenzy of rail- 
way building seized the people everywhere. Within thirty 



3o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

years the Atlantic coast was connected with the West by 
what are now the Boston and Albany, the New York Central, 
the Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio 
Hnes. Within less time than that, the distance from Port- 
land, Maine, to Wilmington, North Carolina — a thousand 
miles — was covered by a chain of short connecting 
lines. 

Soon the fever reached the West. In 1838 a line between 
Detroit and Ann Arbor (now the Michigan Central) was 
constructed. Four years later it was possible to travel by 
rail from Boston to Buffalo, and by 1852 a railway journey 
from the East to Chicago was advertised. In 1857 Chicago 
and St. Louis were connected by what is now the Alton 
railroad ; that same year the Baltimore and Ohio trains 
began running into St. Louis. 

In the South the growth of railways was slower, but by 
1850 Fredericksburg, Virginia, was connected with Wil- 
mington, North Carolina, and Norfolk with Raleigh. A 
line from Charleston penetrated eastern Tennessee, and 
united Knoxville with the coast. A railway connected 
Savannah with the heart of Georgia, and trains were 
running from Montgomery, Alabama, to Pensacola on 
the sea. 

In 1850 Congress made huge grants of land to Illinois, to 
aid a company in building a line (now the IlKnois Central) 
from Chicago to Cairo, and similar grants were made to 
Alabama and Mississippi for railways. By i860 the Illinois 
Central, the Mississippi Central, and connecting lines 
were open. Thus the Gulf of Mexico was linked with 
Chicago. ^ 

The Development of the Express Business. — Along with 
the growth of railways came the establishment of express 
companies. In 1839 W. F. Harnsden, of Massachusetts, 
began to make trips between Boston and New York three 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 307 

times a week transporting valuable packages under guard. 
It was not long before he had so much to carry that it 
became necessary to use special cars for the purpose. Soon 
express offices were opened in New York and Philadelphia, 
and in 1842 express service was established on the Hudson 
River. 

In 1845 a western express to Cincinnati, Chicago, and 
St. Louis was opened by Wells and Fargo. In the same 
year the Adams Express Company was organized. Seven 
years later the American Express Company bought out the 
eastern lines of Wells and Fargo, who then opened express 
routes over the plains and deserts, and by way of Panama, 
to the Pacific. A pound package was soon carried from 
New York to the Pacific coast for forty cents. 

The express companies did not confine their operations 
to railway lines. They built stage and wagon routes, and 
established the pony express to carry mail and packages 
into the wilds of the mountains and to the very borders of 
civilization. 

V. The Electric Telegraph; Ocean Navigation 

The Electric Telegraph (1844). 5. F. B. Morse. — The 
people were hardly accustomed to the steam railway before 
a still more mysterious contrivance, " the magnetic tele- 
graph," was invented. Experiments in transmitting signs 
by electricity along wires had been made by many men, 
but it was an American genius, Samuel F. B. Morse, aided 
by Alfred Vail, who made a practical success in sending 
messages. 

After he found, in 1838, that he could communicate 
over three miles of wire, Morse applied to the government 
of the United States for aid, because he was a poor man 
and had endured extreme poverty while working at his 
invention. He was finally successful, Congress in 1843 



308 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

voting ^30,000 for a line between Washington and Balti- 
more, which was completed the next year. The success 
of the experiment led to the organization of many com- 
panies to connect all the important cities of the country. 
In a Httle while a business man could transact business in 
Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans on 
the same day. 

The Atlantic Cable. Cyrus W. Field. — A still more won- 
derful experiment — a trans-Atlantic cable — was begun in 
1857. The idea of a cable was suggested as early as 1850 
by John A. Roebhng, of Trenton, New Jersey, and also by 
Matthew Maury, a distinguished scientist of Virginia, 
w^hose studies of ocean currents and beds gave him the 
name of "The Pathfinder of the Seas." Cyrus W. Field, 
aided by the federal government and by business men 
in this country and England, began to lay a cable along 
the floor of the Atlantic Ocean to unite the New World with 
the Old. Twice the cable broke, after it had been laid far 
out at sea. Each time Field renewed his task, and in 
1858 communication was opened. A little while after the 
President of the United States and Queen Victoria had 
exchanged greetings, the cable broke again ; so Field, amid 
trying discouragements, had all his work to do over. He 
never faltered, and in 1866 he established permanent cable 
communications. 

Ocean Navigation. Early American Shiphuildi7ig. — In 
spite of the wonderful development of steam navigation, the 
United States came to depend mainly on European ships to 
carry freight and passengers across the Atlantic. This was 
not because American shipbuilders and sailors were less 
keen than those of the Old World. On the contrary, they 
equaled in skill the best in the world, and they had oak and 
hard pine in abundance to build fast clippers and great 
merchantmen. 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 309 

For a long time after the War of 181 2 they proved their 
ability. American vessels carried the flag into all harbors 
of the world, and American masters and sailors showed that 
they were second to none in their energy, self-reliance, and 
initiative. Moreover, it was an American-built ship, the 
Savannah, that first crossed the ocean partly under steam 
power in 18 19. But the importance of this event was not 
reaKzed in America and pubHc opinion was not awakened 
to the need of government aid. 

Ocean Transportation Subsidized. — The English govern- 
ment, on the other hand, knew the value of a merchant 
marine. In 1839 it gave a large cash bonus or subsidy to 
the Cunard Steamship Company, which began operating 
vessels across the Atlantic — a concern that soon grew to 
immense proportions. The next year the English govern- 
ment voted money to lines operating to the ports of India 
and China and to the ports along the west coast of South 
America. 

A burst of shipping enterprise on the part of the British 
was followed in 1845 by action on the part of the United 
States government. In that year it, too, voted money: 
to the Ocean Steamship Line, running from New York to 
Bremen, and to the Collins Line, operating from New 
York to Liverpool. Three years later, the Pacific Mail 
Line around the Horn to California was granted a subsidy. 
For a time American companies, thus aided by the govern- 
ment, held their own, and men dreamed of the day when 
American shipping would cover the sea. 

The Decline of American Deep-sea Commerce. — Then dis- 
satisfaction with granting public money to ship companies 
grew up. Southern planters thought that they could ship 
cotton and other produce cheaper in English ships. In 
1856 Congress lowered the grants of money to the Collins 
Line, and in 1858 abandoned subsidies altogether. In a 



3IO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

little time the American ships were sold to EngHsh com- 
panies, and most of the ocean-carrying trade passed into 
their hands. 

American skill and energy went into the development 
of manufacturing and mining and the construction of rail- 
ways. By 1850 the output of industries began to rival in 
value the output of farms and plantations. The United 
States was clearly destined to be a great industrial nation, 
not merely a nation of planters and small farmers, as Jeffer- 
son had hoped. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why are the changes that were brought about by the 
steam engine and the introduction of steam-driven machinery 
called the ''Industrial Revolution"? 2. In what way was the 
United States still dependent upon England after the War for 
Independence? 3. Who was Samuel Slater? Why is his 
name remembered ? 4. In what part of the country did the 
cotton and woolen industries first develop ? What reasons are 
there for their early development in this region ? 5. Who 
invented the cotton gin ? Why was the invention so important ? 
6. What names are connected with the invention of the sewing 
machine ? 

II. I. Why did Pennsylvania become the center of the iron 
industry ? What are the advantages of Pittsburgh as a center of 
iron and steel manufacturing ? Find from your geographies the 
names of the principal iron and steel manufacturing cities in the 
Pittsburgh district. 2. What did Cyrus McCormick do to 
make his name remembered ? 

III. I. Why did the industrial revolution increase the de- 
mand for improved methods of travel and transportation ? 
2. What led the people of New York to approve of Clinton's 
plan for the Erie Canal ? What other means of getting goods 
from the Atlantic coast to the Middle West were there at this 
time ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of shipping 
goods by canal ? 

IV. I. When and by whom was the first successful steam- 
boat built ? Can you think of any reasons why the steamboat 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 311 

should have been developed earlier than the railroad ? 2. What 
names are connected with the early railroads of England ? Of the 
United States? 3. Compare the speed of the early American 
locomotives with that of present-day locomotives, 

V. I. What names and dates are connected with the inven- 
tion of the electric telegraph and the development of the ocean 
cables ? 2. At about what time did steam become important 
in ocean transportation ? Can you think of any reasons why 
ocean steamships were developed much later than river steam- 
boats ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Tell the story of the invention and early development of 
the steam engine. 

See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," ch. vii; 
Warren's "Stories from English History," pp. 399-400. 

2. Select one of the following men for special study and report. 
Be ready to give a brief account of his life and of the work for 
w^hich he is remembered : Samuel Slater, Eli Whitney, Elias 
Howe, Robert Fulton, Cyrus McCormick, De Witt Clinton, 
S. F. B. Morse. 

Something regarding each of these men and their work will be 
found in the following books; refer to the index or table of 
contents in each case: Mowry's "American Inventions and 
Inventors," Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II. 
Also see, for Fulton, Sutcliffe's " Robert Fulton," or Elson's 
"Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. v, and for Morse, 
Bolton's " Famous Men of Science," pp. 202-245. 

3. Imagine yourself a passenger on an Erie Canal "packet" 
about 1830. Tell the story of your trip. 

See Hart's "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 102-104. 



CHAPTER XVII 

GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE BROUGHT ABOUT 
BY THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

The marvelous inventions which we have just described 
radically altered the daily life of the people of the United 
States, — their ways of thinking, working, travehng, buy- 
ing, selling, and making a hvelihood. The new machines 
did more than anything else to revolutionize the country; 
more than all the political events — elections and contests 
of political parties — combined. 

Cheap land had created in the United States the largest 
independent farming class any country in the world had 
ever seen. This accounted, in the main, for the freedom 
and democracy so proudly proclaimed by American states- 
men. The great inventions created here, as in Europe, 
millions of industrial workers and city dwellers and so 
brought to this country the same problems. One can truly 
say that the steam engine makes the whole world kin. 

I. Changes in Working Conditions 

The Division of Labor. — When manufacturing was done 
by hand, each worker performed many different operations. 
Take for example the old textile industry. The same worker 
could usually card, spin, weave, and dye ; that is, could 
produce a complete piece of cloth from raw materials. 
With the coming of machinery, each worker had to 
specialize on one minute operation, such as watching the 

312 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 



313 




carding machine or the spinning jenny or the loom. The 
artisan skilled in an entire trade was then supplanted by 
the specialist, who was very swift in his craft but helpless 
when put at some other machine. 

Another result of the division of labor was the Hnking 
of many communities. In early times each farm or town 
produced nearly all that it 
consumed. After the indus- 
trial revolution towns, like in- 
dividuals, began to specialize 
— some producing hardware, 
others cloth, others boots 
and shoes. Each special man- 
ufacturing town was then forced 
to depend on others for the 
commodities which it did not 
produce. This stimulated rapid 
transportation and communi- 
cation, and made great cities 
possible. It also made the 

town helpless in time of depression, when the industries 
upon which its prosperity depended were shut down. 

The Separation of the Workers from Their Tools. — In 
the old days, when work was done by hand and only a few 
simple and inexpensive tools were used, each workman 
who had any initiative could go into business for himself 
after he had served his apprenticeship ; that is, when he 
had learned his trade. Each man therefore could become 
his own master. He could own and control the tools by 
which he earned his livelihood, for it did not require much 
capital for him to set up a loom house, shoeshop, or smithy, 
or to go into business on his own account, particularly with 
the aid of his wife and children. 

After the introduction of expensive machinery, however. 



By courtesy of Manhalian Trade School 

Putting the Thumb in a Glove, 
One of the Many Steps in the 
Process of Making a Glove 



314 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



and the use of the steam engine to drive hundreds and even 
thousands of machines at the same time, it became impos- 
sible for every workman to become a factory owner. The 
steam engine, according to an old saying, was a great 







From a photograph 

The Spinning Room in a Modern Cotton Mill 

monster which ate up the tools of the handworker and 
made him a servant to the machine. In this way, those 
engaged in industry became divided into two classes : the 
relatively few owners of the machines, that is, capitalists ; 
and the great mass of operatives who worked at the machines. 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 315 

When the working people owned their tools, there could be 
no quarrel over the division of the income received ; but 
when one man owned the machines and others operated 
them, a natural difference of opinion arose as to how the 
money received for the total product should be divided. 
Thus arose the conflict between capital and labor — the 
wage question. 

Women in Factories. The Labor Supply. — The effect 
of the new inventions on the life and labor of women 
was even greater than on the life and labor of men. 
Women had long been accustomed to hard work; in the 
colonial times they had done much of the manufacturing — 
practically all of the textile making: spinning, weaving, 
knitting, lace making, and sewing. With the coming of 
machinery, factory owners looked to them as an important 
source of labor supply, particularly in the textile regions of 
New England. To allay the fears of the farmers, who 
did not want to lose their " hired men," it was widely ad- 
vertised that a large share of the new manufacturing 
would be done by American women. Without their help 
the textile industries of New England could not have 
flourished, for it was not until after 1850 that European 
immigration began to be the chief source of the labor 
supply. 

New Spheres for Women. — When women stepped from 
the spinning wheel at home to the spinning jenny in the 
mill, they did not enter a new field of work ; but as the 
variety of machine industries multiplied they were drawn 
into new branches. Manufacturers finding it profitable to 
employ women discovered reasons for widening " woman's 
sphere." Between 1820 and 1840 more than one hundred 
different industrial occupations were opened to women, in- 
cluding many new trades where skill rather than muscular 
strength was required. Take, for example, boot and shoe 



3i6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

making. This was from earliest times a man's trade. 
When the inventors invaded the industry and even the 
heaviest naiUng and sewing were done by machines, thou- 
sands of women were drawn into boot and shoe making. 

When once the old view of their sphere was abandoned, 
women went into stores and offices as well as mills. In 
1858 the New York Times urged more women to take up 
" clerking " because they were specially fitted for that 
work. 

Industries and the Home. — While spinning, weaving, 
and dyeing were done by hand, women were generally 
at home even while working. The factory system took 
their work away from the fireside, and the women had to 
follow it into the great buildings where the machinery was 
operated. Thus women went out into the big world to 
labor with men, in the same factories, for the same hours, 
and under the same dangers to life and health. 

Often the family was scattered about the city, the father 
working at one factory, the mother at another, and perhaps 
the children at a third. The result was a change in home life 
that completely upset the old idea of the family, according 
to which the work and life of the mother and children were 
restricted to the homestead. Sometimes women found 
themselves in sharp competition with men for jobs. 

Child Labor. — Besides women, boys and girls were an 
important source of early labor supply. Tens of thou- 
sands of them were driven by poverty into the industries. 
They kept the mills going. Selfish parents, too, seeing a 
chance to add to the family income, put their little ones at 
work in the mills when it was not really necessary. Even 
the great statesman, Hamilton, thought it one of the ex- 
cellent features of the factory system that " children of 
tender years " could be so employed. Mill owners, finding 
their labor cheap, approved the idea. 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 317 

Children had long been accustomed to hard work on the 
farms and in the homes, and labor was nothing new to them. 
The thing that was new was labor in the factories, where 
they could not have the superintending care of their fathers 
and mothers. Their hours of labor and their health were 
no longer matters readily arranged by their parents. The 
wheels of the mills turned from early morning till late at 
night, and children who expected to hold their positions 
had to be in their places. So in the long annals of toil 
there must be a chapter for the children. 

New Labor Supplies. — European Immigration. The 
Irish. — With the growth of factories and cities and the 
undertaking of canal and railway construction, the demand 
for workers increased, and, in response, an army of immi- 
grants began to invade America. First in importance 
before i860 were the Irish. The people of Ireland were 
unhappy under the rule of the English government. Al- 
though they were Catholic in faith, they were forced to 
pay taxes to support the Protestant Church. Vast sec- 
tions of the country were owned by landlords who lived in 
England and drew princely revenues from distant estates 
tilled by half-starving peasants. The Irish were ruled by 
the parliament which sat at London, while they wanted 
home rule — a parliament of their own. 

In 1846, the potato crop, on which from one third to 
one half of the population depended, was almost a total 
failure, and more than a third of the people were thrown 
upon charity, while thousands perished of starvation. Before 
the famine was over, two millions had died or left Ireland 
and tens of thousands had sought homes in America. In 
1850 the census recorded nearly a milhon Irish people in 
the United States. 

The German Tide of Immigration. — Next in order were 
the Germans. They, too, had suffered from oppressive 



3l8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

government, and the same year that saw the failure of the 
potato crop in Ireland brought similar disasters on the con- 
tinent, particularly in the Rhine Valley and southern Ger- 
many. In 1848 a revolution against the despotic govern- 
ment of kings and princes broke out in many places in 
Germany, and attempts were made to establish governments 
by the people. Most of these popular efforts came to 
naught, and the rulers imprisoned, shot, or banished revolu- 
tionary leaders. 

Germans, in great numbers, found their way across the 
Atlantic, among them many men of distinction, like Carl 
Schurz. In 1847 over fifty thousand of them landed in 
New York, and the number increased almost steadily for 
several years. In 1850 the four states of Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, and Iowa, had nearly a hundred thousand German 
inhabitants. Unlike the Irish, most of whom settled near 
the eastern coast, the Germans scattered westward. Al- 
though many of them stopped at Chicago and Milwaukee, 
perhaps a majority of the early immigrants found homes be- 
side American pioneers as independent farmers. 

The Foreign-bom Population of i860. — From many other, 
countries across the sea, as well as Ireland and Germany, 
immigrants began to come. In i860 there were over 
4,000,000 foreign born in the United States, most of whom 
had migrated within the preceding ten years. 

II. The Labor Movement 

The Wage System. — As the army of working people grew 
to huge proportions there arose many grievances. The 
hours of labor were long, usually from sunrise to sunset, 
thus leaving no time or strength for anything else. If 
an employer failed in business, the employees lost any 
wages due them, for they had no claim upon his property. 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 319 

Wages were not always paid weekly, or even monthly, 
and frequently they were paid in paper money of uncertain 
value, or " store orders " which could only be cashed at 
the stores at a heavy discount. In all states, working 
people were hable to fine and imprisonment if they com- 
bined and struck, or even formed a union, for the purpose 
of increasing their pay or shortening their hours. 

The Low Wages of Unskilled Labor. — Wages were often 
very low. According to a learned historian, the ordinary 
laborer, such as a wood-cutter or hod-carrier, was fortunate 
to find employment for twelve hours a day at seventy-five 
cents. Large numbers were glad to work for thirty-seven 
and even twenty-five cents a day in winter; in fact, in very 
hard times, there were always hundreds ready to work for 
their board and lodging during the cold season. On the 
canals and turnpikes fifteen dollars a month with board and 
lodging was regular pay for summer, and in winter the 
amount of money paid was cut down to five dollars a month. 

The wages of women were still lower. Many of the 
trades were closed to them. Unskilled women found 
work at sewing rags, folding and stitching books, and 
making shirts. Mothers and widows generally engaged in 
shirt making, because they could take the goods home. 
This labor was poorly paid. A good seamstress seems to 
have made ninety cents a week, and fifty cents a week 
appears to have been the average.^ Under such conditions, 
poverty and pitiful distress appeared everywhere in the 
great cities. 

Labor Organizes for Self-protection. Rise of Industrial 
Democracy. — Working people and their sympathizers set 
to work in earnest to remedy some of these evils. About 
1825 they began to form labor unions in spite of the law 
against it. The women weavers and cotton workers in New 

^ Of course the cost of living was much lower than at the present time. 



320 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

England organized societies and demanded shorter hours 
and better pay. The machinists of Philadelphia began an 
agitation for a ten-hour day, and the New York ship car- 
penters followed their example. In Philadelphia a large 
number of workingmen decided, in 1828, to form a poHtical 
party of their own and to vote only for candidates who 
promised to support the demands of " the working classes.'' 
Two years later the workingmen of Albany, New York, 
organized a party and carried four out of the five wards in 
the city. In all large towns, newspapers were founded to 
advocate the rights of workingmen. 

The Federation of Labor Unions. — The first organiza- 
tions of workingmen were local in character. When rail- 
ways were built and travel became easy and cheap, they 
began to form national federations or unions of local 
unions. The printers federated in 1852, the hat finishers in 
1854, the iron workers in 1858, and the machinists in 1859. 
The aim was to unite all the members of a given trade 
throughout the country. Strikes often followed organization. 

Early Leaders of the Labor Movement. — Agitators and 
lecturers went up and down the country talking about the 
problems of the workers. Among these was an earnest 
woman, Frances Wright, who came to the United States 
from Scotland, and became one of the first advocates of 
" the rights of the working men and women " in this 
country. She lectured on labor questions, advocating shorter 
hours, higher wages, better homes for working people, 
and many other reforms. She was mobbed in some cities 
for her audacity in talking in public, and in others was 
refused the right to speak — so horrified were the people at 
the thought of a woman lecturer. Nevertheless her ideas 
took root and in many places " Fanny Wright Societies " 
were formed to advance the interests of the working 
people. 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 321 

Another reformer, Robert Dale Owen, a famous Eng- 
lishman who settled in Indiana, advocated the same ideas. 
He wrote a pamphlet on "national education " favoring a sys- 
tem of free common schools very much on the order of those 
now existing all over the country. He, too, was regarded 
generally as an undesirable person. All workers did not 
appreciate his interest in them. A committee of New 
York printers declared that it was insolent for a foreigner 
to tell the people of the United States how to run their 
own affairs. 

Competition between Native and Foreign Labor. — The 
coming of foreigners who had been accustomed to work for 
wages even lower than those prevailing in the United States 
was regarded with misgivings by native Americans. In 
New England, the daughters of farmers were driven out of 
the mills by men and women from the Old World. Every- 
where the Irish took over the work of building roads, dig- 
ging ditches, and draining swamps, and the common labor 
which had hitherto been performed by American working- 
men. 

When manhood suffrage was established and persons of 
foreign birth began to take part in politics, the natives were 
even more alarmed, especially as the newcomers were 
mostly Catholic in rehgion. So great did this alarm be- 
come that a " Native American " party was formed and 
in 1856 it nominated a candidate for President. Among 
other things it proposed the exclusion of foreign-born citi- 
zens from public offices. This party was popularly known 
as the " Know-Nothing " party, because its meetings were 
secret and its members, when questioned as to their aims, 
always replied that they did not know. It adopted the 
slogan, "Americans must rule America," and declared that 
no alien should be admitted to citizenship until he had re- 
sided in the United States continuously for twenty-one years. 

Y 



322 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

III. The Growth of Cities; Foreign Trade; Condi- 
tions IN the South 

The Rapid Growth of the Cities. — All over New England, 
manufacturing towns like Lowell, Brockton, and Providence 
grew like magic. The older cities flourished, too. In 1840 
the five first cities of the country in order of their impor- 
tance were New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, 
and Boston. The first of these boasted over three hundred 
thousand inhabitants ; the last ninety-three thousand. 

To the westward new towns were springing up. Buffalo 
was the gateway through which flowed the westward migra- 
tion — twelve hundred people a day, it was reported in 
1835 — and also the western products on their way to the 
eastern markets. In 1850 Buffalo had a population of 
forty-two thousand. 

On low, marshy land along Lake Michigan, the village 
of Chicago was growing into a lively trading center. In 
1840 there were five thousand inhabitants dwelling in rough 
wooden houses built along streets in which weeds and 
prairie grass were still growing, and which were knee-deep 
in mud when it rained. Yet the signs of future greatness 
were already there. Hundreds of ships, — sailing vessels 
and steamers — carried farm produce outward, and eastern 
manufactures inward, giving employment to large numbers of 
sailors, merchants, warehousemen, and wagoners. 

Detroit and Cleveland were becoming important trading 
centers, and to the northward Milwaukee had forged ahead 
so rapidly that her population was half that of Chicago in 
1840. The older towns, Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. 
Louis, continued to flourish as the steamboat trade on the 
river grew in size. 

Backward State of City Government. — With the growth 
of the cities came all the troublesome problems of city 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 



323 



government — street paving, repair and cleaning, lighting, 
fire protection, police, public health, transportation, hous- 
ing, taxation, — to which so much attention had to be 
given. Even when New York was a city of 50,000, there 
was no regular street cleaning. For fire protection, each 
citizen was required to keep in his front hall a number of 
buckets, according to the number of his fireplaces. When 




From a photograph of the original, owned by the Chicago Historical Society 

Chicago in 1834 

a fire-alarm was rung he set them on his front door 
step to be carried oflF to the fire by the first passer-by. 
The next day he went to the city hall and got the buckets, 
which he could identify by his initials painted on them. 
There was no regular police force. Carters and other 
laborers who worked by day were employed as night 
watchers. Sometimes they actually went home and slept 
when they should have been patrolling the streets. In 



324 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

1850 a regular police force was organized for Philadelphia; 
and three years later a uniformed force was estabHshed 
in New York. 

Foreign Trade. — Industrial progress prevented the people 
of the United States from setthng down to a self-satisfied 
life and becoming entirely indifferent to what was going 
on in the other parts of the world. Instead of waiting at 
home for European ships to bring manufactured goods 
to exchange for farm produce, Americans began to hunt 
abroad in Europe and Asia for markets in which to sell 
the output of their own industries. In this way they grew 
interested in other countries. Thus the United States 
ceased to be a " pecuHar " nation, and became one of the 
pov/ers of the world, searching like the rest of them for 
trade and commerce. It began official relations with China 
in 1844, and ten years later "gently coerced " Japan into a 
treaty which opened that country to western civiHzation. 

The Ideal of Progress. — With the inventions came also 
the ideal of making constant progress instead of " sticking 
to the good old ways." When a clever inventor contrived 
a new machine which could make a commodity cheaper 
than the old one, the old one was " scrapped '' ; that is, 
abandoned and broken up. If one clever man found a new 
and more profitable method of doing business, he changed his 
ways and the others had to follow his example or fall behind 
in the race. When boys and girls found that they could 
make better wages in another city, they " pulled up 
stakes," and set out from the old home to find a new one. 
So the old-fashioned way of working with grandfather's 
tools and grandmother's utensils was cast aside. 

Instead of setthng down in the villages where they were 
born, people became accustomed to moving about. Villages 
and families were broken up. Moreover, when people 
from other parts of the world, Scotch, Irish, and Germans, 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 325 

came over in large numbers, there was a commingling of 
ideas. Petty prejudices against neighboring states or cities 
or peoples were modified by the constant intercourse with 
them. 

The South Not Profoundly Affected by the Industrial 
Revolution. — The most striking feature — one full of 
meaning for the future — about this great industrial 
revolution, this growth of cities, this immense foreign 
immigration, was the restriction of industrial progress 
mainly to the North. In 1840 New York City had 
more inhabitants than all the important towns south of 
Washington : Richmond, Petersburg, Charleston, Savannah, 
and New Orleans. The South had water power and im- 
mense natural mineral resources, but these were undevel- 
oped. It could have rivaled Pennsylvania in iron produc- 
tion, and New England in cotton weaving and spinning ; 
but as long as slavery prevailed, European immigrants 
would not go to the southern states and capital would not 
seek investments in southern industries. 

Moreover, tens of thousands of people left Virginia and 
North Carolina and other southern states to settle in 
the lower counties of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. They 
found richer lands there, and were glad to escape from 
regions where the non-slave-owner was held in con- 
tempt by the aristocracy of masters and where he had 
little chance to rise out of poverty. Many well-to-do 
people, particularly the southern Quakers, migrated to the 
Middle West because slavery was odious to them. While 
slavery lasted, the South was destined to be engaged chiefly 
in agriculture and to remain small in population as com- 
pared with the North. It was owing to this difference 
in industrial and agricultural interests that such serious 
friction sprang up between the two sections, and led finally 
to the Civil War. 



326 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Looking Forward. — In a preceding chapter we tried to 
draw a picture of the romance of westward migration, — 
a restless movement of fur hunters, miners, cattle rangers, 
plainsmen, pioneers, and farmers, — that conquered and 
occupied the great West. Now we must try to picture 
to ourselves the work of the new classes created by the 
industrial revolution — business men, inventors, captains 
of industry, railway magnates, real estate speculators, and 
capitalists — hurrying to improve every kind of machine, 
establishing banks and raising money for industrial and 
railway enterprises, building up factories, constructing rail- 
way lines through forests and over mountains. Under 
their daring leadership great cities were built, the back- 
ward and waste places of the country made accessible, 
forests cut down, mines and oil wells opened, — indeed, 
the very face of the earth transformed. Under their direc- 
tion were massed huge armies of wage workers, who slowly 
organized a labor movement and commenced to demand a 
voice in the control of industry and society. 

Adding the business men and the industrial workers to 
the free farmers and the planters, we have the four im- 
portant groups that were to influence the current of Ameri- 
can political history for many generations. All these groups 
were continually striving to advance their respective inter- 
ests. The work of government thus became largely the 
task of adjusting the conflicts among them, and preventing 
any one group from going too far. At the same time there 
was the task of welding them all into a nation, with high 
ideals of liberty and humanity, striving to secure and main- 
tain a place among the powers of the earth. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What is meant by the ''division of labor".? Illustrate 
by comparing the older method of making such things as cloth 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 327 

and shoes with the modern factory methods. 2. What was the 
effect of the division of labor upon the worker ? How did the 
division of labor influence the growth of towns and cities? 3. 
How did the division of labor and the introduction of factory- 
methods "separate the workman from his tools" ? How did it 
give rise to the division between "capital" and "labor"? 4. 
Why was it possible under the new factory conditions for so much 
of the work in the factories to be done by women and children ? 
What differences did this bring about in home life ? 5. How 
did the industrial revolution and the development of the factory 
system lead to a large immigration of European workmen ? 
6. Why did so many of these come from Ireland ? 7. What 
were the causes of the immigration from Germany ? 8. Chiefly 
in what parts of the country did each of these groups of im- 
migrants settle ? 

II. I. What were some of the hardships of the wage-earners 
before i860? 2. At what time did the wage-earners begin to 
organize for self-protection ? 3. Who were some of the leaders 
of the labor movement at this time ? 4. What is meant by 
a "federation" of wage-earners ? 

III. I. What effect did the industrial revolution have upon 
the growth of cities ? 2. Name some of the new problems that 
the rapid growth of cities brought about. 3. How did the de- 
velopment of the factories influence commerce with other coun- 
tries ? 4. Why were the southern states so little aflFected by 
the industrial revolution ? 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Imagine yourself a member of a large family engaged in 
home-manufacturing before the days of the factory system. 
Imagine yourself a member of a similar family working in a factory. 
What would be the difference in the interest that you would take 
in your work ? In the pride that you would take in the excellence 
of the product ? In your knowledge of the complete process of 
manufacture ? In your feelings toward your fellow- workers ? In 
the kinds of pleasures that you would seek in your free hours ? 

2. Find out the main facts about the effect of the indus- 
trial revolution in England. See Warren's " Stories from Eng- 
lish History," pp. 393-411. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY IN THE 
UNITED STATES 

Everywhere in the United States during the first decades 
of the nineteenth century were signs of a new age. 
People from the East were rushing westward into the Mis- 
sissippi Valley. Immigrants from all the countries of west- 
ern Europe were crowding to our shores. New states were 
being admitted to the Union one after another. New 
generations were elbowing aside the older people of the 
Revolutionary period and their descendants who prided 
themselves on being " the real Americans." New ques- 
tions were being debated. New problems — growing out 
of the rise of cities, the building of railways, the increase 
in the size of the working classes, and the strife of rich and 
poor — were troubling those who took an interest in public 
affairs. The slow and easy-going ways of colonial times 
were being left behind just as the landscape disappears be- 
hind a rapidly moving express train. 

I. The Struggle for the Right to Vote 

The Principles of the Early American Democracy. — 
Naturally these new ways of living, working, travel- 
ing, and thinking aroused a wider discussion of the prob- 
lems of government. It was not long before leaders 
questioned many of the laws which had come down from 
the early days, and to inquire whether the government of 

328 



THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 



329 



the country was really in harmony with the ideals of liberty 
announced by the Fathers of our Country. At the time of 
the Revolution certain great principles of liberty and de- 




W^ 



From an old print 

The elections in early days were often held in the open air, and every voter announced 
publicly the names of his candidates. 

mocracy had been proclaimed to the world in the Declara- 
tion of Independence : 

The taxation of those who have no voice in the govern- 
ment is tyrannical. 

Governments derive their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed. 

All men are created equal. 

All men are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unahenable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. 



330 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The people have a right to alter or abolish their govern- 
ments, and set up new governments, if such action is 
necessary to secure their rights. 

Application of the Principles. — These were great ideals ; 
but they were not strictly applied in the making of our 
first state constitutions and in the founding of our national 
government. There were many leading Americans at the 
time of the Revolution who feared the direct rule of the masses 
of common people as much as they did the rule of kings. 

Hamilton said that society was divided into the few 
and the many — "the rich and well born," and "the mass 
of the people'' who seldom judge or determine rightly. 
Madison declared that the despotism of a majority of the 
people was as much to be feared in the United States, as 
that of monarchs in Europe. Even Jefferson, who was re- 
garded as a dangerous radical by many people in his day, 
was at first opposed to granting the right to vote to any 
man who did not own land ; and he came to believe in man- 
hood suffrage only in his later years. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the first state constitutions and laws, al- 
though resting in theory upon "the consent of the gov- 
erned," in fact excluded from the ballot a large portion of 
the men, to say nothing of the women. 

Limitations on the Right to Vote. — The laws against equal 
political rights for men were in the main as follows : 

1. In nearly all the states a man had to be a property 
owner or a tax-payer in order to vote. 

2. In addition to excluding many poor men from the 
polls, the first state constitutions often provided that only 
wealthy men could hold office. Thus, even if people with 
little property voted, they could not elect one of their 
own kind to office. 

3. Members of certain religious sects were in some 
states excluded from pubUc offices. 



THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 331 

Agitation for Wider Voting Privileges. — Such violations 
of the doctrines of the Revolution could not stand long 
unquestioned. Pamphlet v^riters began to appear. The 
call for the abohtion of property and reKgious quahfications 
on the right to vote and hold office was heard throughout 
the land. Petitions were prepared and signed by thousands 
of people. 

A Maryland writer announced that the time had come to 
open all offices to all men, rich and poor alike. In New 
York state one petition with seventy thousand signatures 
was laid before the legislature, asking for manhood suffrage. 
In Virginia, where only land owners (" freeholders ") could 
vote, the non-freeholders petitioned the constitutional con- 
vention of 1829 for the " precious right '' of suffrage. 

Arguments in Favor of Suffrage. — Those who advo- 
cated opening all offices and giving the ballot to all 
men based their pleas on simple principles of humanity 
and the Declaration of Independence • — ** governments 
derive their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned." They declared that the poor man needed the 
vote to protect himself and to secure laws in his favor, 
just as manufacturers secured protective tariffs in their 
favor. They repeated the battle cry of the Revolution : 
" There is no such thing as * virtual representation ;' " that 
is, one who has no vote is not actually represented in the 
government. They denied that ** the rich and well born" 
had a monopoly of virtue or intelligence. They scorned the 
idea that the poor were represented in the government when 
they had no voice in it. They concluded by saying that the 
men who were voteless were determined to get the ballot, and 
that it would be the better part of wisdom to give it to them 
without having too much trouble about it. In addition 
to the movement for manhood suffrage — the right of 
every adult male to vote — there was another agitation 



332 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

in favor of having more officers directly elected by the 
voters. 

Arguments Urged against Extending Suffrage. — Every- 
where these agitations for more democracy were condemned 
by those who had the privileges which others were trying to 
get. It was urged that the new demands were assaults 
on cherished American ideas of government — attacks on 
the wisdom and honor of the men who framed the state 
constitutions. Arguments such as these were constantly 
heard : 

There is no real demand for manhood suffrage — only a few 
noisy agitators are stirring up the matter, while most of the people 
are satisfied with things as they are. We are happy and pros- 
perous now; why make changes? Wherever ideas of extreme 
democracy, such as are proposed, have been tried in Europe, they 
have failed and ruined the governments. The poor have no inter- 
est or concern in the government because they have no property at 
stake, and Providence has decreed that there shall always be poor. 
Workingmen, if given the right to vote, will sell their vote to 
their employers and engage in politics for which they are not fitted. 
Giving them the right to vote and hold office will end in ruin. 

The opponents of equal suffrage for men in the East 
generally objected to admitting western states to the Union 
and giving the men of the new country a voice in the federal 
government. 

Popular Choice of Presidential Electors. — The right to 
choose presidential electors by popular vote was early 
advocated. The Constitution of the United States pro- 
vided that electors should be chosen as the legislatures 
of the states might decide. In many cases the members 
of the legislatures decided to do the choosing themselves, 
often to the dissatisfaction of the voters at large. After 
much discussion the right of choosing electors was given 
directly to the voters. By 1832 every state except one had 



THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 333 

established " popular choice of presidential electors/' The 
South CaroHna legislature alone continued to choose them 
itself. 

During the first decades of the nineteenth century there 
was also some agitation for popular election of United States 
Senators, who were chosen by the state legislatures. An 
amendment to the federal constitution was early proposed 
in Congress for this purpose. It did not receive any serious 
attention until long afterward, and was not adopted until 

1913. 

The Right to Vote Gains Gradually. — The fight for man- 
hood suffrage was a long, hard battle in some states. In 
others, however, particularly in the West, it was easily 
won. Kentucky came into the Union in 1792 with a 
provision for manhood suffrage ; Tennessee, in the con- 
stitution of 1796, gave the vote to every freeman who 
had resided in any county in the state for six months pre- 
ceding the election ; Ohio, in her first constitution, gave 
the vote to freeholders and all others who paid a state or 
county tax, no matter how small; Indiana, in 1816, gave 
the ballot to every free white male ; and Illinois, two years 
later, followed the example of Indiana. 

Some of the eastern states kept pace with the West; 
New Hampshire, Georgia, and Maryland early removed 
tax and property qualifications on the right to vote. 

Other states, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
New York, Virginia, North CaroHna, and South Carolina 
clung with great firmness to property qualifications. New 
York refused to surrender the old system until 1826. Vir- 
ginia held out until 1850, and North Carolina gave up the 
fight against white manhood suffrage in 1854. 

Dorrs Rebellion. — In Rhode Island the agitation for 
manhood suffrage broke out into open violence and resist- 
ance to law. In that state only landholders could vote. 



334 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



This meant, after the growth of the factory towns, that 
thousands of workingmen, clerks, teachers, and business 
men who did not hold land were without a voice in 
the government. For many years the non-freeholders 
made strenuous efforts to get the ballot; but the free- 
holders repHed that their forefathers had estabHshed the 
system and they were going to keep it. 




Dorr's Rebellion, an Early Struggle for the Right to Vote 



In 1 841 the exasperated non-voters called a convention 
of their own, drafted a constitution giving themselves the 
vote, and elected Thomas Dorr, a school-teacher, as 
governor. The regular government resisted the intruder 
and both parties prepared for civil war. Bloodshed was 
avoided, but Dorr and many of his followers were arrested 
and imprisoned. 

The next year the conservatives surrendered and granted 
to practically all men the right to vote for state officers. 
Dorr from his prison heard the shouts announcing the vie- 



THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 335 

tory ; later he was released from confinement ; and the 
decision of the court, which had sent him to jail, was 
crossed out on the records. Connecticut, frightened by 
the conflict across the border, granted manhood suffrage 
in 1845. 

II. The Struggle for "Women's Rights'' 

Discriminations against Women. — While all this agitation 
about the rights of man was going on, women began to in- 
quire about their rights. Women were subject to all the 
exclusive laws to which the poor man objected and to 
many others besides. A woman could not vote or hold office 
(with some very minor exceptions), no matter how much 
property she owned. 

Women were excluded from the colleges, from the pro- 
fessions, such as law and medicine, and from a large number 
of the trades and business enterprises. In many states a 
married woman could not hold and manage property in her 
own name at all. When a married woman acquired property 
or inherited it, her husband had the right to take over the 
management of the real estate, collect the revenues and 
do what he pleased with them. He could claim as his own 
all her other property, such as jewels, money, and wages. 

Women s Protest against Discriminations . — Many earnest 
and thoughtful women resented these discriminations, and 
leaders among them began to ask : Why should we not have 
the right to control our own property and wages ? Why 
should we not have opportunities to obtain even the highest 
education possible ? Why should we be excluded from the 
professions — law, medicine, and the ministry ? Why 
should we be denied all voice in the government — the 
political right claimed for every white man, rich and poor, 
good and bad, educated and ignorant ? 

At first the protest was made privately; then it grew 



336 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

louder and louder; finally it was taken up by the news- 
papers and on the public platform. In 1825, when man- 
hood suffrage was being demanded in New York and near-by 
states, Frances Wright made a plea that suffrage should 
be made " universal." 

Ridicule Poured on Women s Rights. — All these activities 
in behalf of " women's rights '' were laughed at. Con- 
servative people were shocked at hearing women speak in 
pubHc. It was said that it would break up the home if a 
married woman was entitled to hold her own property and 
keep the money she earned instead of turning it all over to 
her husband, or if she was given the vote. 

All the arguments which had been advanced against 
giving equal suffrage to men were advanced against giving 
the ballot to women. 

The First Women s Rights Convention. — Ridicule, of 
course, did not stop the agitation. In 1848, on the call of 
Lucretia Mott, Martha C. Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 
and Mary Ann McClintock, a women's rights convention, 
the first in the United States, was held at Seneca Falls, New 
York. The convention issued an important ^declaration of 
rights." The newspapers made great sport of both the 
convention and the declaration, saying that the " Reign 
of Petticoats " was now announced. Undisturbed by the fact 
that they were stoned, insulted, and jailed, women kept 
up their agitation. 

Rapid Gains of the Suffrage Movement. — The new move- 
ment gained steadily in numbers and in strength. It won 
the support of the ablest women in the country ; including 
Margaret Fuller, a well-known journalist and lecturer of 
Massachusetts, and Lucy Stone, of OberUn, the first woman 
college graduate in the United States. In 185 1 Susan B. 
Anthony became a conspicuous leader and began her fifty- 
four-year campaign for woman suffrage. 



THE GROWTH OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 337 

Prominent men began to help. The great anti-slavery 
agitators, WiUiam Lloyd Garrison and Wendell PhiUips, 
spoke for the women. Emerson, Whittier, and other New 
England writers endorsed their demands. Far in the 
West, Abraham Lincoln early approved the principle of 
sharing the government with those who carried its burdens, 
" by no means excluding the women." Suffrage conven- 
tions were held in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, and 
in 1850 a national convention attended by delegates from 
nine states was held and a national committee established. 

Woman Suffrage and the Slavery Agitation. — The suffrage 
agitation was making rapid progress when the struggle over 
slavery and the Union came like a dreadful storm overshadow- 
ing everything else. The leaders in the suffrage movement, 
basing their claims on the fine principles laid down in the 
Declaration of Independence, believed in Hberty for all ; 
naturally they aided the abolitionists in the attack on 
slavery. They hoped that freedom, when it came, would 
bring universal suffrage. They were doomed to disappoint- 
ment. They saw the slave emancipated and the ballot thrust 
into his hands, and were told that they must wait. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. State the five principles of liberty that were laid down 
in the Declaration of Independence. 2. In most of the states 
what classes were denied the right to vote in the early days of 
the federal government ? What people could not hold office .? 
3. What were the chief arguments in favor of extending the 
privilege of voting ? Against this ? 4. How did the Consti- 
tution provide for the choice of presidential electors? How are 
presidential electors chosen in all the states to-day.? 5. What 
was "Dorr's Rebellion " .? Why was it important .? 

II. I. Name some of the rights that were denied to women in 
the early days of the federal government. 2. Who were some of 
the important leaders in the "Women's Rights" movement? 
3. In what way was the movement opposed ? 



338 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



Problems for Further Study 

1. The following restrictions on the right of suffrage have been 
from time to time applied or suggested. Arrange these in the 
order of their injustice, placing first the restriction that seems 
least reasonable, and so on; be ready to defend your judgment in 
each case : 

Only those should be allowed to vote who can read and write 
the English language. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who own land or other real 
estate. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who belong to a particular 
church or hold a particular religious belief. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who have reached the age 
of twenty-one. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who have not been con- 
victed of some crime. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who are either native- 
born or naturalized citizens of the country. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who are male citizens of 
the country. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who have a degree of educa- 
tion equivalent to graduation from a four-year high school. 

Only those should be allowed to vote whose ancestors were among 
the American soldiers in the Revolution. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who are of sound mind. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who are taxpayers. 

Only those should be allowed to vote who could serve as soldiers 
in time of war. 

2. It has been said that every "right" carries with it a corre- 
sponding *'duty." If this is true, what "duties," in your opinion, 
go with the right to vote ^. Name some conditions that might 
justify a voter in remaining away from the polls on election day. 
Name some excuses, commonly made, that would be unjustified. 



CHAPTER XIX 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION DURING 
THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

With the progress of the industrial revolution, the rise of 
cities, and the growth of political democracy in the United 
States there opened a new 




era in education. Early 
in colonial times reading 
schools and Latin gram- 
mar schools had been 
established in many 
places, and some steps 
had been taken toward 
the support of schools by 
public taxation. Never- 
theless, a large part of 
the people (certainly a 
majority outside of New 
England) could neither 
read nor write, while but 
a scant few were able to 
attend secondary schools 
and colleges. 

The reasons for estab- 
lishing schools and col- 
leges in colonial times were religious rather than educational. 
Children were taught to read and write, not merely because 
knowledge was a good thing in itself, but in order that 

339 



In A A M ' 8 Fall 
We finned all. 



Heaven to find. 
The Biblo Mind. 



Chrift crucify'd 
For finners dy'd. 



The Deluge drovn'd 
The Earth around. 



E Li XAH hid 
By Ravens fed. 



The judgment made 
Felix afraid. 



From the " New England Primer '' 

A Page from a Famous Schoolbook 



340 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

they might learn the doctrines of the churches to which 
their parents belonged and sometimes the chief laws against 
evil-doers. The main purpose of the colleges was to train 
clergymen for the churches. 



I. The Development of Free Elementary Schools 

Lower Schools Removed from Religious Control. — Perhaps 
the most striking step in the educational movement of the 
nineteenth century was the withdrawal of the schools from the 
control of religious denominations. By the opening of that 
century the old schools had lost something of their strictly 
religious character. Certain non-religious or ** secular '' 
subjects, like arithmetic, history, and geography, had been 
introduced ; but the schools were still under the influence 
of religious authorities. The rapid growth of sects in every 
community, however, soon made difficult the practice of 
teaching any one religious doctrine in schools in any way 
supported from public funds or conducted under public 
supervision. 

There were three possible solutions of the problem : each 
church, if it could raise the money, could establish its own 
school at great expense ; the children could remain ignorant 
and illiterate ; or there could be one school for the teach- 
ing of " secular " subjects, leaving religious instruction for 
the homes and the Sunday schools. 

Immigration helped to settle the matter. It was soon clear 
that the newcomers would have to be taught before they 
could be transformed into American citizens. In addi- 
tion to teaching the " foreigners " how to read and write 
English, it was thought necessary to give them some knowl- 
edge of the geography and history of their adopted country. 
For these and other reasons, the strictly religious purposes 
which were prominent in the schools in earlier times began to 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 341 

give way to the ** secular " ideals. This change was well 
started by the opening of the nineteenth century, but its 
influence spread slowly. 

The Development of Free Schools. Early Difficulties in 
the Way of Universal Education. — When elementary edu- 
cation is really " universal," that is, when all children 
between the ages of six and fourteen are attending school, 
large sums of money must be spent for school grounds, 
buildings, furniture, and apparatus, as well as for teachers' 
salaries. Even those who early recognized the need of 
universal education found their eff'orts therefore blocked by 
the lack of money. 

Reliance on Charity for the Support of Schools. — Several 
ways were devised to pay the bills. In New York and other 
cities of the middle states, the elementary schools for the 
masses were for a long time supported entirely by philan- 
thropy. Societies raised money for schools just as they ob- 
tain gifts for orphans' homes to-day. 

Indeed, such schools were often known as " charity 
schools." This naturally aroused a great deal of criticism 
from those who believed that education was a right which 
society owed to all children. Workingmen, who especially 
objected to charity schools, had great influence in bring- 
ing about a system of free, tax-supported elementary 
education. 

Schools Controlled by Religious Bodies. — In other parts 
of the country where the people as a whole were slow to 
adopt the principle of tax-supported schools, the well-to-do 
churches tried to provide elementary education, either 
free or at a very small cost, for the children of the poor 
of all religious sects. This also had its disadvantages. 
Children attending such schools learned the religious doc- 
trines of the denomination which furnished money; this 
displeased many parents. Often, too, the denominations 



342 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

controlling these schools tried to obtain aid from taxation, 
and this led to bitter disputes among the different sects. 

Proposals for Providing Elementary Education at a Low 
Cost: the Lane aster- Bell Monitorial System. — An ingenious 
method of making a little money go a long way in the work 
of education was borrowed from England, where it had 
been introduced early in the nineteenth century. The 
largest item in the cost of maintaining schools is the pay- 
ment of teachers' salaries. When the demand for universal 




A Pupil-Teacher, or Monitor, Inspecting Slates in a Monitorial School 

education became strong in England (as it did about this 
time), two men, — John Lancaster and Andrew Bell, — 
thought out a plan which, they beheved, would reduce this 
item to a minimum. They proposed to place one mature 
and well-prepared teacher in charge of each large school. 
The first duty of this teacher was to instruct a group of the 
older pupils, who, after they had made some progress, were 
placed in charge of still younger pupils. They gave a part 
of each day to the work, and continued their own studies 
during the remainder of the time. As each group of pupils 
came into the higher classes, it took its turn at teaching the 
younger pupils. In this way, a never-ending supply of pupil- 
teachers or " monitors '' could be secured at httle or no 
cost beyond the provision and maintenance of a schoolhouse 
and the payment of a salary to a single teacher. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 343 

This plan, known as the " Lancaster-Bell system " or the 
** monitorial system," was hailed in England as the solution 
of the problem of universal education. Its introduction into 
the schools of Pennsylvania and New York was felt at the 
time to be a long step forward. It at least afforded some 
education for all children, but it was at best a make-shift. 

The Struggle for Tax Support. — Efforts to convince th'fe 
people that education is properly a great pubHc enterprise 
which should be liberally supported by public taxation were 
indeed long and arduous. People of wealth who had no 
children asked why they should be taxed for the education of 
other people's boys and girls. Yet the demand for educa- 
tion was so strong that in the end all the northern states 
passed laws compelling local communities to support free 
elementary schools. By 1850 free schools were general 
throughout the North and the Middle West, and in some of 
the states the percentage of illiterates in the total population 
was almost as low as it is to-day. 

The Leaders of the Free-school Movement. Horace 
Mann and the Educational Revival in Massachusetts. — 
There are several men and women who should be remembered 
and honored because of the work that they did in firmly es- 
tablishing the principle of free schools. Among these leaders, 
Horace Mann holds a high place. As Secretary of the 
Massachusetts State Board of Education, he journeyed up 
and down the state, called the people together in the cities, 
the villages, and the rural districts, and convinced them 
that they must grant money generously to support free public 
schools. The newspapers carried the message to other 
states, and Mann was called upon to lecture throughout 
the North and the Middle West. He not only pleaded 
with the taxpayers to be more liberal in their support of 
schools. He gathered the teachers together and helped 
them to organize institutes for their own professional im- 




344 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

provement. He urged with good results the estabhshment 
of state-supported and state-controlled normal schools for 
the training of public-school teachers. He also stimulated 

the development of free libraries. 

Henry Barnard. — New England 
produced another great educational 
leader in the person of Henry 
Barnard, who for many years served 
as Secretary of the State Board of 
Education of Connecticut. Bar- 
nard stirred the people to take a 
greater interest in their schools 
and to support education more 
liberally. Moreover, he brought 
Horace Mann ^^ ^^^^^ through a journal that 

he published, important information about the rapid progress 
of pubHc education in Europe. This was pure generosity 
on Barnard's part, for his journal, although very influential 
throughout the country, never repaid the cost of publica- 
tion. He supported it almost entirely from his own funds, 
and thus spent the greater part of his modest fortune. 

De Witt Clinton. — In the history of the gradual building 
up of the free public schools. Governor De Witt Clinton of 
New York also deserves a notable place. He urged the 
founding of free schools supported entirely by taxation. As 
a result of his efforts, in 1821 all towns in that state were 
ordered to support schools at public expense. In 1842 other 
leaders induced the state to provide that the City of New 
York should have a Board of Education, and within a few 
years a system of free public schools was created there. 

Emma Willard and Mary Lyon. — With Barnard and 
Mann there are two women who hold a high place in the 
record of American educational progress. The first of these, 
Mrs. Emma Willard, founded a female seminary in Ver- 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 345 




mont as early as 18 14 and seven years later opened her 
famous seminary in Troy, New York. She wrote many 
textbooks for the schools, some of which were translated into 
foreign languages and used abroad. She journeyed far and 
wide pleading the cause of popular education, one year 
traveling eight thousand miles through the southern states 
addressing conventions of teachers. 

The second, Mary Lyon, after a 
long teaching experience in acade- 
mies, founded in 1837 at South 
Hadley, Massachusetts, the Mount 
Holyoke Female Seminary, which 
later became Mount Holyoke Col- 
lege. This seminary won fame 
everywhere for the high character 
of its teaching and did much to 
give standing to " female '' educa- 
tion. Among the many contribu- 
tions of Mary Lyon was her plan for plain and simple living 
for the students, which reduced the cost of education and made 
more parents willing to make sacrifices for their daughters. 

Robert Owen and Frances Wright. — In the history of pop- 
ular education credit must also be given to many of the 
leaders and friends of working people. Robert Owen, a 
distinguished Englishman who believed in the education 
of all the people rich and poor, visited the United States 
and started hundreds of artisans to thinking about educa- 
tion for their children. Frances Wright was also a promi- 
nent leader in the struggle of the laboring classes for free 
schools in the United States. In their trade unions and 
clubs labor leaders supplemented the work of Barnard, 
Mann, and others, by demanding that legislatures vote 
the money to carry out the plans of the great educational 
reformers. 



Mary Lyon 



346 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Work of the Teachers. — To the names of Mann and 
Barnard should really be added those of hundreds and 
thousands of public-school teachers throughout the coun- 
try. Not all the teachers of that day looked upon their 
work as a great profession or sought to increase its services 
to the people ; but many teachers did take this view, and 
worked in season and out for better schools and for laws 
that would make universal education a reality instead of a 
dream. They formed organizations for the improvement 
of their work, sent delegates to plead the cause of the 
people's schools before the legislatures, and lost no occa- 
sion to impress upon their own pupils the need and the 
value of better education. 

The Free-school Movement in the Northwest. — One might 
expect to find more rapid growth of free schools in the new 
western states than in the East, for it will be remembered 
that the Land Ordinance of 1785 had set aside for the 
support of schools one section of land in each township of 
the Northwest Territory, besides making very liberal land 
grants for higher institutions. As a matter of fact, the 
development of education in these new states was by 
no means rapid. In a great many cases the value of 
the school lands was not foreseen, and instead of being 
held until they could be sold at a good price, they were 
almost given away. In other cases, they were leased 
for very long periods of time at low rental. In still 
other cases (unfortunately all too numerous), the funds 
derived from the sale or the lease of school lands 
were diverted to other purposes. Sometimes, indeed, they 
found their way into the pockets of private citizens. Thus 
one of the most generous endowments ever made for edu- 
cational purposes fell far short of giving to the people its 
largest possible benefits — and chiefly because the people 
did not take the proper care of their funds. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 347 

And so, in all the middle western states as in New Eng- 
land, the agitation for tax support had to be carried on. 
As in the East, the people seemed sometimes not to care 
very much whether their children could go to school or not. 
The ^'educated man " was not popular, for the rough work 
of conquering the wilderness seemed to demand brawn and 
muscle rather than "book-learning^^ and culture. Although 
the state constitution of Indiana, which went into effect 
in 1 8 16, made provision for a complete system of public 
schools and colleges, little was done for thirty years to 
carry out these provisions, and then only after a struggle 
hke that which Horace Mann carried on in Massachusetts. 

That the proposals of the Indiana constitution were far 
in advance of the demands of the Middle West is shown by 
the fact that the constitution of lUinois, adopted in 18 18, 
contained not a single word regarding education or the estab- 
lishment of public schools. Indeed, the elementary schools 
of Illinois were in wretched condition until the middle of 
the century, when the wave of revival reached the state. 
In Missouri, the revival did not come until after 1865. 

Conditions in the South. — The South did Httle to 
encourage free schools before that date, although some 
progress was made by certain of the states, notably by 
North Carolina. The merchants in the towns and cities 
could depend upon private schools, while the planters 
could hire tutors for their children. The South had many 
academies for boys and girls and boasted of some of the 
finest private libraries in the country. Many southern 
leaders, hke Calhoun, of Yale, were educated in northern 
colleges. The white population of the upland and moun- 
tain districts was too poor to support schools. Since there 
was little immigration from Europe, the need of free public 
schools for assimilating alien peoples was not so keenly felt 
as in the North. 



348 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

II. High Schools and Colleges ; the Education of 

Women 

The Development of Secondary Education. The Acad- 
emies. — Before the Revolution, a new type of second ary school 
know^n as the " academy " had come into existence. It w^as 
different from the old Latin grammar school in which Greek, 
Latin, logic, and mathematics were the chief studies. It 
laid more emphasis upon such subjects as English, mathe- 
matics, drawing, and the rudiments of the sciences. The 
academies were not public schools and were not sup- 
ported by taxation, but they were somewhat more demo- 
cratic than the older Latin grammar schools where a few 
young men were prepared for college. They were attended 
largely by the children of fairly well-to-do merchants and 
farmers, who could afford to pay the tuition fees and the board 
and lodging of their children. 

After the Revolution, these academies increased in num- 
ber and finally almost entirely displaced the Latin grammar 
schools, especially after they began to prepare students 
for college. 

The Beginnings of the Public High School. — About 
1820 a demand arose for another type of secondary 
school, — a school controlled by the public, designed 
to prepare children more for the work of life, and open 
to children whose parents could not afford the heavy tui- 
tion fees and the boarding and lodging expenses of 
the academies. In 1821 such a school was established 
in Boston by the public school board acting for the people 
of that city. In 1825 a somewhat similar school was 
founded in New York City. These were the first Ameri- 
can high schools. 

High schools were not at the outset connected with the 
lower schools as our present-day high schools are ; that is, 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 349 




children did not " graduate " from the eighth grade and 
then go on to the high school. The grading system, indeed, 
was unknown as yet. The high schools were open to boys 
who had completed certain studies. They kept the boys 
for four or five years, giving 
them work in English, 
mathematics, drawing, sur- 
veying, navigation, book- 
keeping, and similar ** prac- 
tical'* studies. They did 
not teach Latin or other 
foreign languages at first, 
nor did they attempt to 
prepare pupils for college. 

The idea of a public high 
school spread very slowly. 
The battle for taxation had 
to be fought again. While 
the people were being won 
over to supporting elemen- 
tary schools by taxation, many still thought that only such 
rudiments as reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and 
history should be provided at public expense. By i860, 
however, there were probably as many as one hundred public 
high schools in the towns and cities of the northern and 
middle western states, although the academy still pre- 
vailed as the leading type of secondary school. 

Higher Education. — While the pubHc schools were being 
created, colleges continued to multiply. The religious de- 
nominations needed schools for the training of their clergy, 
and their colleges, once estabUshed, came to attract students 
who were looking forward to law and medicine as well as 
to the ministry. 

The Beginnings of the State University. — The idea of 



The English Classical School, the 
First High School in Boston, Es- 
tablished IN 182 1 



350 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

free, tax-supported education, which was slowly being ex- 
tended to include the high schools, was destined to reach 
the colleges and universities. Leaders came to believe 
that education in all branches should be open to all ane 
should be furnished at public expense. The ideal had ap- 
peared in the Land Ordinance of 1785, which provided a 
grant of land for a public college in each of the states that 
should be carved out of the Northwest Territory. It had 




The Oldest Picture of the First Prominent State University, the Uni- 
versity OF Michigan in 1855 

also been foreshadowed by the ambitious proposals of 
Thomas Jefferson, who planned for Virginia a great educa- 
tional system, including elementary schools, high schools, 
and finally a state university. 

Many of the state universities of the South were opened 
very early in the country^s history: North Carolina, 1795; 
Georgia, 1801 ; South Carolina, 1804. In the Middle West, 
Ohio in 1802, and Indiana in 1824, led the way. The first 
of the state universities to attain a wide reputation as the 
capstone of the public-school system was the University of 
Michigan, which was planned most pretentiously in 1817 
and opened very modestly in 1841. 

The Education of Girls and Women. — So far we have 
spoken of education as if it concerned boys and girls alike. 
As a matter of fact the education of girls and women lagged 
far behind that of boys and men. Only in the lowest 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 351 

elementary schools were girls freely admitted, in order 
that they might learn to read and write and master the 
catechism. The grammar schools and the academies, which 
prepared boys for college or for business, were closed to 
girls. It was not thought necessary for a long time to 
give them more than the merest rudiments of learning. 
In the early part of the nineteenth century a serious writer 
exclaimed : ** All a girl needs to know is enough to reckon how 
much she will have to spend to buy a peck of potatoes in 
case she becomes a widow." In view of the prevalence of 
such opinions, it is not surprising that all the colleges 
were closed to women. 

Higher Education of Women. — The general awakening of 
women, however, produced many reforms in the field of 
education. Being barred from the grammar schools, the 
academies, and even the few public high schools, women 
turned to " female " academies and seminaries which be- 
gan to spring up all over the country. In 1833 Oberlin 
College did a daring thing by opening its doors to women, 
and in 1847 it graduated Lucy Stone who, as we have 
said, became one of the leading champions of higher edu- 
cation and equal political rights for women. In 1853, 
Horace Mann, the famous New England educator, who 
had been called to the presidency of Antioch College in 
Ohio, invited women to come and share the advantages 
offered to men. These were striking exceptions. By i860 
there were only four or five colleges in the whole country open 
to women, and even at Oberlin they were confined to a special 
" select '' course of studies. The state universities supported 
by taxation were closed to them. 

Summary. — By the middle of the nineteenth century the 
United States had given up the old-fashioned and aristo- 
cratic view that the common people needed merely the ele- 
ments of education — reading, writing, and arithmetic, — 



352 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

and were unworthy of the best of the world's thought. 
In the place of this old-fashioned notion had been adopted 
the principle, if not the practice, that the gateways to learn- 
ing should be opened to all, rich and poor, boys and girls, 
alike. 

In order to apply the principle certain standards had 
been worked out : 

1. Graded schools should be maintained through public 
taxation and opened freely to all. 

2. In order to prevent the backward regions from neg- 
lecting the education of their youth, the state government 
should aid and control its entire school system. 

3. The pubhc schools should not be sectarian; that is, 
controlled by any religious denomination. 

4. Teachers should be trained at public expense. 

5. The state should not rely upon religious bodies or 
gifts from the rich to furnish college education for young 
men and women, but should establish colleges and uni- 
versities as free to the citizens as the public schools them- 
selves. 

III. The Newspapers 

The Significance of the Press. — If the people had been 
compelled to rely upon the schools alone for their education, 
their progress would have been slow indeed. The schools 
gave the keys of knowledge to the masses and made it 
possible for them to read the books, papers, pamphlets, 
and magazines of every party, sect, creed, and group. It 
was this that broke down the monopoly of learning by any 
sect or class. It is the newspaper and the book that make 
a person a citizen of a nation and of the world rather than 
the inhabitant of a narrow community. It is the press 
that opens to the humblest the record of the past and of 
the day. It is the press that by the hourly discussion 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 353 



of every live topic makes it possible for millions to think 
together and prepare the way for action together. The 
noblest and the wisest think in vain if their thoughts are 
confined to their own minds and perish with them. The 
schools and the press, — these are the mighty weapons of 
popular government. The rise and growth of democracy is 
marked by their rise and growth. 

The Colonial Press. — The history of the press and the 
history of the schools run parallel. The printing press was 
first regarded as a powerful ally of the schools in the spread 
of religious doctrines. Within ten years after the founding of 
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, namely in 1639, a printing 
press was set up in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts^ The 
next year the first book 
published on American soil 
— the "Bay Psalm Book" — 
was issued. 

For a long time printing 
was confined mainly to re- 
ligious works, but in 1690 
a newspaper appeared in 
Boston, bearing the curious 
title of Puhlick Occurrences 
Both Foreign and Domestic. 
It was regarded with so 
much alarm, however, that 
the government promptly suppressed it. Fourteen years 
later a second paper, The Boston News Letter, a little sheet 
of four small pages, the first regular newspaper in America, 
ventured forth. Within a few years weekly newspapers 
had been founded in New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, 
WiUiamsburg (Virginia), and Charleston. The Maryland 
Gazette was estabhshed in 1745. The oldest newspaper in 

2A 




Kind of Printing Press Used by 
Benjamin Franklin 



354 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



1 

ion I 



North America which has continued without interruption 
or change of name is the New Hampshire Gazette, which 
started on its career in 1756. None of the colonial papers, 
however, were dailies. It was not until 1784 that the first 
daily, the American Daily Advertiser, was founded in 
Philadelphia. 

The colonial papers were crude, and had only a small 
circulation. For example, only three hundred copies 
of the Boston News Letter were printed each week. The 
type was set by hand, and the printing was done on a 
hand press, which printed one sheet at a time. By 
the hardest labor, only two or three hundred copies an 
hour could be printed. There was little news in the papers, 
because the editors assumed that ever.y one knew what was 
going on in the local community, and relied upon foreign 
newspapers and private letters for information about out- 
side affairs. Sometimes, however, there were startling 
" sensations," as in 1704, when the Boston News Letter de- 
scribed in detail the execution of six pirates in Charles River. 

The Royal Governors Oppose the Freedom of the Press. 
— Small as these papers were, they were widely read ; con- 
sequently the royal officers in the colonies objected to 
their saying anything about poHtical matters. In New 
York, for example, a publisher by the name of Peter Zenger 
was imprisoned in 1735 for criticizing the governor, and 
lawyers who agreed to defend him lost their hcenses. When 
Zenger's trial was held, a lawyer from Philadelphia, Andrew 
Hamilton, was called to defend him. There was great 
excitement during the trial. Hamilton in his speech to 
the jury declared : " It is not the cause of a poor printer, 
nor of New York alone, that the jury is now trying. It 
is the cause of liberty ! " Zenger was acquitted by the 
jury, amid public rejoicing, and Hamilton was wined and 
dined and given the freedom of the City of New York. In 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 355 

Virginia the newspaper seems to have been controlled by 
the royal governor. Jefferson thought in 1766 that in order 
to get a pubHc discussion of disputes with Great Britain it 
was necessary to found another paper, because the printer 
of the old sheet would not publish anything that dis- 
pleased the governor. 

The Influence of the Colonial Press on the Revolution. — • 
The royal officers were correct in assuming that the news- 
papers would stir up public discontent with the government. 
The feeling against Great Britain on the eve of the War for 
Independence was strongest in the news centers : Boston, 
New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Williamsburg, and 
Charleston. In the newspaper offices ardent young revo- 
lutionists wrote appeals to their countrymen to resist Great 
Britain. These little newspapers were scattered around 
in the coffee houses and club rooms, spreading rebellion 
everywhere. The editors in each town copied extensively 
from the newspapers published in other places. They 
helped to carry the news of the revolutionary movement 
and to create a nation by enabling the citizens in every 
part to know what was going on in the most distant 
places. The Royalists of Boston called the office of the 
Massachusetts Spy the " sedition foundry." 

Growth of Newspapers after the Revolution. The Rise of 
the Partisan Press. — Following the establishment of inde- 
pendence, the number of newspapers rapidly increased. 
With the adoption of the Constitution and the growth of 
the two political parties. Federalists and Jeffersonians, the 
discussion of political issues became of supreme importance. 
Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury and a leading 
Federalist, raised money among his party friends to support 
the United States Gazette; while Jefferson, Secretary of 
State, gave his support to the Republican paper. The 
National Gazette. In a little while, party papers appeared 



356 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

everywhere, abusing one another and the pubhc officers 
of opposite views. As early as 1793 The Senthiel of the 
Northwest was founded in Cincinnati by the postmaster, 
and it was not long before every little frontier town had a 
newspaper of some sort. Special newspapers, such as the 
papers published for workingmen. The Liberator issued by 
Garrison for the Abolitionists, and temperance sheets, 
appeared in large numbers. 

Newspaper Development in the Nineteenth Century. — • 
It would be impossible to record here the marvelous growth 
of newspapers during the first half of the nineteenth century, 
but some of the reasons for the development may be briefly 
summarized : 

1. The telegraph and railway multiplied manyfold the 
means of securing information for the newspapers. 

2. As the cities grew in size and population increased, 
the newspapers secured more and more paid advertising, 
and thus were able to reduce their subscription price. 
In 1833 the New York Sun startled the newspaper world 
by introducing a penny paper. That enabled the man in 
the street to have his newspaper every day. In the larger 
cities the weekly newspapers were driven out by the dailies. 

3. Universal education made it possible for the humblest 
to read. 

4. There appeared a number of newspapers of national 
influence. One of these was the New York Tribune, founded 
in 1 841 by Horace Greeley. Daily and weekly editions of 
this famous paper were published, and thousands of farmers 
in the East and West rehed upon the Tribune for their na- 
tional news and their political opinions. 

5. The old-fashioned hand press was superseded about 
1850, in all the larger newspaper offices, by a rapid rotary 
machine driven by steam. Instead of two or three hundred 
copies an hour, publishers could then turn out several 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 357 

thousand copies an hour. Cheap printing, combined with 
advertising, made it possible for every one to have books 
and newspapers at a small cost. 

6. In order to encourage the reading of newspapers, the 
government fixed the postage rate for printed material at 
a very low figure, even less than the actual cost of carriage. 



IV. Magazines, Pamphlets, and Books 

The Magazines. — Although the popular magazine with 
its circulation of millions belongs to our own day, the be- 
ginnings of such periodicals run back beyond the Revolution. 
Before the end of the eighteenth century there were at 
least forty magazines, registers, reviews, " museums,'' and 
" repositories of knowledge." They satisfied a popular 
thirst for more general information than that found in 
the weekly and daily press. They included articles on 
music, poetry, and literature, and in time extensive dis- 
cussions of current political questions. 

Among the most noted of the early magazines was the 
North American Review, estabhshed in 181 5 and continued 
until the present day without interruption. Twelve years 
later (1827) the first magazine intended for women alone, 
the Ladies^ Magazine, was founded. It was in connection 
with the illustration of women's magazines that the art 
of steel engraving was developed to a high point which 
admitted of its wide use by other publications. It was 
illustrations that made magazines popular. 

Political Pamphlets. — Some of the greatest American 
political writings appeared during the exciting years that 
followed the quarrel with Great Britain and the establish- 
ment of the Constitution. Thomas Paine, in his Common 
Sense and The Crisis, aided powerfully in raising the revolt 
against the mother country and vigorous thinking about 



358 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

popular government. In the contest over the adoption 
of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, 
and John Jay wrote a remarkable series of papers in the 
defense of the new plan of government, later collected 
as The Federalist, and used generally as a textbook ^ on 
American government. Among the later poHtical writers 
should be mentioned John C. Calhoun, the famous states- 
man and defender of slavery from South Carohna, and 
Daniel Webster, whose speeches on the Constitution and 
Union were almost as widely circulated in the North as The 
Federalist itself. 

The Development of the Novel. Early American Novels. 
— The earliest American writers of romance, hke Charles 
Brockden Brown (1771-1810), followed European models. 
Even when they did lay the scenes of their stories in this 
country they brought in Old World characters — scornful 
gentlemen and fainting ladies. Neither here nor in England 
was it thought that America afforded any materials for tales of 
the imagination. Here there were no towering battlements, 
no lordly knights, no lovely ladies in castles, no giants or 
ogres. American life was hard and practical, and even the 
most fanciful did not think that real stories could be woven 
out of the doings of common people. James K. Paulding 
(iyyg_i86o) undertook a novel along American lines when 
he pubhshed "The Backwoodsman," but it won only a 
scanty recognition. It required courage and a new kind 
of skill and imagination to create an American romance. 

Cooper, Irving, and Hawthorne. — About the third decade 
of the nineteenth century authors succeeded in writing 
stories of American life that attracted serious attention 
abroad as well as at home. In 183 1 James Fenimore 
Cooper pubhshed "The Spy," a story of the American 
Revolution ; and this was followed by his tales of Indian 
adventure, which speedily gave him a reputation in foreign 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 359 

lands as far away as Persia. To this period also belong 
Washington Irving, whose legends, " Rip Van Winkle " and 
'' Sleepy Hollow,'* have taken their place in the enduring 
literature of America ; Edgar Allan Poe, whose mysterious 
and exciting stories gave him a wide circle of readers; 




Cooper, Irving, and Hawthorne 

Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose "Twice Told Tales," "Mosses 
from an Old Manse," and " Scarlet Letter " won for him 
more than national reputation; and Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, whose " Uncle Tom's Cabin " stirred the North 
on the subject of slavery. 

Poetry. — Most of the poetry of this period was given 
to the country by New England. In some of it, such as 
" EvangeHne," " Hiawatha," and the " Courtship of Miles 
Standish " by Longfellow, American romances were chosen. 
In some, the voice of the reformer was heard. James 
Russell Lowell, in the " Biglow Papers," sharply criticized 
the government for carrying on the Mexican War. John 
Greenleaf Whittier denounced slavery and preached the 
cause of abolition and woman suffrage. Other New Eng- 
land poets followed the classical models of the Old World. 
WiUiam Cullen Bryant, with his " Thanatopsis " written 
while he was a youth not yet eighteen, secured lasting 



360 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

fame. From the South came Edgar Allan Poe, whose 
** Raven," published in 1845, established his reputation 




Longfellow, Lowell, and Poe 

forever; and two other poets of genuine worth, Paul 
Hamilton Hayne of South Carolina, and Sidney Lanier of 
Georgia. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What was the chief reason for the establishment of schools 
in early colonial times? 2. What is the meaning of "secular" 
education ? 3. Why did the growth of different religious sects 
and denominations lead to the secularization of education ? 4. 
What effect did immigration from Europe have upon this move- 
ment ? 5. What is meant by ''universal" education? 6. 
How did Lancaster and Bell plan to make elementary education 
universal ? What, in your opinion, would be some of the dis- 
advantages of schools organized on their plan ? 7. Who were 
some of the important leaders in the movement for free, tax-sup- 
ported schools ? 8. What provisions were made by the federal 
government for the support of schools in the western country ? 
Why were these provisions not sufficient for the schools ? 9. 
Why did education develop more slowly in the South than in the 
North and the West ? 

II. I. How did the academies differ from our present high 
schools ? 2. Why did the high schools grow so slowly at first ? 
3. How were the early colleges supported ? 4. What state was 
the first to establish a public, tax-supported university as a part 
of its public-school system ? 5. What opportunities did girls 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR EDUCATION 361 

md women have for education in colonial times ? In the early 
lays of the Republic ? 6. What causes led to a recognition of the 
leed of education for women as well as men ? 

III. I. What is meant by the '* Press"? By a "free 
)ress " ? 2. Why is a "free press" so important in a de- 
nocracy ? Why did the colonial governors often oppose the 
levelopment of newspapers ? What influence did the newspapers 
lave upon the struggle for independence? 3. To-day each 
lewspaper usually represents some political party. When did 
his practice begin ? 4. What causes led to the rapid develop- 
nent of newspapers in the first half of the nineteenth century ? 

IV. I. Name some of the early magazines. 2. Who were 
;ome of the political leaders who spread their ideas by means of 
)amphlets ? If these men lived to-day, what means would they 
)robably use to get their ideas before the people? 3. Why 
vere novels and poems dealing with American life so slow to 
ippear ? Who were the important American writers of novels 
md poems in the first half of the nineteenth century ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Find out how much it costs to maintain the public schools 
)f your town or city for a year, including salaries for superin- 
:endent, principals, teachers, and other school employees, and 
:he cost of fuel and other supplies. Divide the total cost by the 
lumber of pupils enrolled in the schools each year in order to 
ind how much is spent for each pupil. Where does the money 
■"or the support of your schools come from ? 

2. The Ordinance of 1785 set aside one section of land (640 
icres) in each township of thirty-six sections for the support of 
schools. Find how much rent 640 acres of farm land would bring 
2ach year in your town or township. Would this be sufficient 
to-day to support the schools ? 

3. Prepare a brief account of the work of Horace Mann. 
See Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 250-257. 



362 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Outline for Review of Development of the Nation 
(Chapters XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX) 

I. Political development between 181 5 and 1845. 

A. Important political issues of the period. 

1. The protective tariff. 

2. Internal improvements. 

3. The sale of public lands. 

4. The United States Bank. 

B. Political leadership. 

1. The administrations of James Monroe and John 

Quincy Adams. 

2. Andrew Jackson's administration. 

3. Webster, Hayne, Clay, and Calhoun. 

C. The rise of the Whig party. 

1. The campaign of 1840: Harrison and Tyler. 

2. Tyler's unpopularity : the Ashburton Treaty. 
II. The settlement of the territory west of the Mississippi. 

A. Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa. 

B. The Texas problem : the admission of Texas. 

III. The war with Mexico : Cause, campaigns, and terms of 

peace. 

IV. The settlement of the far western country. 

A. Oregon, California, and Utah. 

B. Summary of the far western movement. 
V. The industrial revolution. 

A. England's early leadership in industry. 

B. The development of manufacturing in America. 

1. The cotton industry : the cotton gin. 

2. The woolen industry. 

3. The invention of the sewing machine. 

4. The iron industry : development in Pennsylvania. 
C The development of farm machinery. 

D. Means of transportation and communication. 

1. Canals. 

2. The steamboat. 

3. The railroad. 

4. The express business. 

5. The telegraph : the Atlantic cable. 

6. Ocean navigation. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 363 

VI. The effect of the industrial revolution upon American life. 

A. The division of labor and the separation of the worker 

from his tools. 

B. Women in the factories, child labor. 

C. Immigration stimulated to bring new supply of labor. 

D. The labor movement. 

E. The growth of the cities. 

F. Foreign trade. 

G. The South and the industrial revolution. 
VII. The growth of political democracy. 

A. The struggle for universal manhood suffrage. 

B. The struggle for women's rights. 

VIII. The development of popular education in the first half of 
the nineteenth century. 

A. The religious character and purpose of colonial schools. 

B. The removal of the schools from the control of the 

church. 

C. The development of free elementary schools. 

D. The development of high schools. 

E. The development of higher education : state universi- 

ties. 

F. The education of girls and women. 

G. The development of the newspapers, magazines, and 

political pamphlets. 
H. The early American novels, American poetry. 
Important names : 

Presidents: John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), Jackson (1829- 
1837), Van Buren (1837-1841), Harrison and Tyler (1841-1845), 
and Polk (1845-1849). 

Other Political Leaders : Clay, Webster, Calhoun. 

Pioneers : Moses Austin, Marcus Whitman, Brigham Young. 

Inventors: Slater, Whitney, Fulton, Howe, McCormick, and 
Morse. 

Educational Leaders : Mann, Barnard, Clinton, Mary Lyon, and 
Emma Willard. 

Labor Leaders: Robert Owen and Frances Wright. 

Writers: Paine, Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, Poe, Bryant, Long- 
fellow, Whittier, Lowell, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

Military Leaders: Taylor and Scott. 
Important date : 1 846-1 848. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT BETWEEN THE NORTH 
AND THE SOUTH 

The wonderful advance in invention, industry, education, 
western settlement, and democracy made the future of the 
United States seem full of promise ; but on the horizon there 
hung a dark cloud which grew larger day by day. The 
storm of civil war was approaching. The very progress 
we have described prepared the way for it by marking the 
country off into three distinct sections : the manufacturing 
Northeast, the free farming West, and the planting South. 

These economic differences led to sharp differences of 
opinion about the pohcies to be pursued by the federal 
government. 

1. The planters of the South demanded free trade with 
Europe, in order that they might freely exchange their 
cotton, rice, tobacco, and hemp for manufactured goods. 

2. The manufacturers of the Northeast, on the other 
hand, insisted that the government should put a tax on 
manufactured goods coming into the country, in order that 
they might have control of American markets. 

3. The free farmers of the West were divided in opinion. 
At some elections they voted with the South and at others 
they voted with the Northeast. At last many of them 
were won over to the latter, partly by offers of internal im- 
provements and free land to be granted to citizens from 
the public domain. 

364 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 365 

As time went on, the opposition between the North and 
the South became more and more bitter. Attacks finally 
were made on slavery, the source of Southern power, and in 
the end the issues were tried out on the field of battle. 



I. Slavery Becomes a National Problem 

The Constitution a Compromise on the Question of Slavery. 
— The founders of the Constitution had recognized the 
existence of jealousy between the " commercial " and the 
"planting'' sections of the country. Only by a series of 
necessary compromises had they succeeded in bringing the 
two together into the Union. As we have seen, they agreed, 
in effect, although they did not mention slavery in the Con- 
stitution : 

(i) that the importation of slaves from abroad should 

not be prohibited before 1808 ; 

(2) that the slave states should be given representation 
in the House of Representatives for three fifths of their 
slaves ; 

(3) that slaves escaping into other states should be re- 
turned to their masters when properly claimed ; 

(4) that the consent of two thirds of the Senators should 
be necessary for treaties, so that commercial arrangements 
could not be made with other nations without the ap- 
proval of at least some Southern Senators. 

With slavery in the states, the framers of the Constitution 
did not interfere at all, leaving the matter to be decided 
by each state as it saw fit. 

Many of the " Fathers " Opposed Slavery. — Several of the 
patriot fathers who framed the Constitution were strongly 
opposed to slavery and in favor of putting an end to 
it, but they thought the Union was so important that it 
should not be endangered by a quarrel over slavery itself. 



366 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Washington, for example, disliked slavery and provided in 
his will that his own slaves should be set free after the 
death of his wife. Jefferson believed that slavery was con- 
trary to every principle of human justice and could not 
endure forever. He even went so far as to introduce into 
the Virginia legislature a bill providing for the gradual 
emancipation of slaves. George Mason, a Virginia member 
of the Convention that drafted the Constitution of the 
United States, denounced human bondage in vigorous 
terms, saying : " Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. 
The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. Slaves 
prevent the immigration of whites. Every master of slaves 
is born a petty tyrant. Slaves bring the judgment of 
heaven on a country." 

Northern States Abolish Slavery. — The early opponents 
of slavery were much encouraged by the fact that the 
Northern states had begun to abolish it within a few years 
after the Declaration of Independence. The Massachu- 
setts constitution of 1780 declared all men to be born free 
and equal ; this was held to put an end to slavery. In the 
same year Pennsylvania provided for gradual abolition. 
New York in 1799 declared that all children of slaves born 
after July 4th of that year should be free, though held for a 
long term as apprentices; and in 1827 the state legislature 
swept away the last remnants of slavery. New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey followed the 
example of these states. In Virginia and Kentucky, there 
was some talk of aboHtion, and some slave owners joined 
the African Colonization Society founded in 18 16 to assist 
free negroes in returning to Africa to found free colonies. 

Arguments for Slavery in the South. — Nevertheless, 
there were many citizens who, from the very first, were 
bitterly opposed to all talk about abolition. The delegates 
of South CaroUna to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 367 

declared that slavery was absolutely necessary to carry on 
the plantations of their state. They also strongly objected 
to stopping the importation of slaves, on the ground that 
the number of deaths every year in the rice swamps made 
it necessary for planters to have new supplies constantly. 
It is a mistake to say, therefore, that the Fathers were all 
agreed that slavery was an evil. Many of them, particu- 
larly from the Far South, thought it not only necessary, but, 
on the whole, good for the negroes as well as for the planters. 

Why Slavery Became a National Problem. — The great 
mass of the American people in the opening decades of the 
nineteenth century probably did not think very much 
about slavery one way or the other. They were busy with 
the opening up of the West and Southwest ; then came the 
War of 1812 which lasted for three years; and after that 
arose the questions of a protective tariff, a national bank, 
the Monroe Doctrine, and other important political issues. 
A few Quakers presented a petition against slavery to the 
first Congress under the Constitution ; but most citizens 
were opposed to bringing slavery into national politics at all. 
Whenever they had occasion to discuss it, they said that it 
was a matter for the states to settle for themselves. 

It was impossible, nevertheless, to keep slavery out of 
national poHtics altogether, because it inevitably came to 
the front in the following ways : 

1. When a new state was about to be admitted to the 
Union, the question naturally arose in Congress whether it 
should be admitted as a free or a slave state. 

2. Whenever new land was acquired or new territories 
were organized by Congress, the question came up as to 
whether slavery should be prohibited or permitted. In con- 
nection with this there arose a dispute as to whether Con- 
gress even had the power, under the Constitution, to aboHsh 
or prevent slavery in the territories. 



368 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

3. Since Congress had full power to govern the District 
of Columbia, abolitionists demanded that it should, at all 
events, abolish slavery at the national capital. 

4. The Constitution provided that slaves escaping from 
their masters into other states should be delivered up on 
claim of their owners. The citizens of the free states dis- 
liked very much to see " slave catching " going on around 
them, even if they were not much disturbed by slavery 
some hundreds of miles away. In this connection there 
arose the question as to how far the federal government 
should help in the work of returning runaway slaves to 
their owners. 

5. Finally the extreme abolitionists demanded immediate 
emancipation, in spite of the Constitution, which recognized 
the existence of slavery in Southern states as lawful. Some 
of them even advocated that the free states should with- 
draw from what they called an " unholy union " with slave 
states. 

The Situation in 1820. — The question as to the power of 
Congress to prohibit slavery in any territory owned by the 
United States arose early in connection with the government 
of the lands beyond the Alleghenies ; and at the time it was 
decided that Congress had full authority. The Northwest 
Territory above the Ohio River was declared to be free 
territory by the famous Ordinance of 1787,^ and as a result 
the states afterward estabhshed therein became free states. 
On the other hand, the territory to the south of the Ohio 
became slave territory. Kentucky, which had been a part 
of Virginia, was admitted to the Union in 1792 as a slave 
state. Tennessee came in four years later on the same 
terms. The territory between Georgia and the Mississippi 

1 The Ordinance was afterwards approved by the first Congress under the 
Constitution, and thus the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the territories 
was confirmed. 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 



369 



was declared to be slave territory, and when Alabama and 
Mississippi were admitted slavery was continued. 




The Missouri Compromise 

Accordingly in 1820 there were in the Union eleven free 
states and eleven slave states : 



Free States 
Vermont 
New Hampshire 
Massachusetts 
Connecticut 
Rhode Island 
New York 
New Jersey 
Pennsylvania 
Ohio 
Indiana 
Illinois 



Slave States 
Delaware 
Maryland 
Virginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 
Georgia 
Kentucky 
Alabama 
Tennessee 
Mississippi 
Louisiana 



The Missouri Compromise (1820). — Thus things stood 
when the inhabitants of Missouri, in 181 8, asked for the 



370 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

right to form a state. There were many slaves in Missouri, 
because the lands had been taken up largely by settlers 
from Southern states, who had brought slaves with them. 
Their right to do this had not been questioned, and 
when they sought admission to the Union they assumed as 
a matter of course that Missouri would be a slave state. 
It happened, however, that there were many opponents of 
slavery in Congress, who were determined, if possible, to 
check its spread beyond the Mississippi. Neither side would 
give way to the other, and a deadlock ensued. 

The Admission of Maine. — The deadlock might have con- 
tinued indefinitely. The approval of both houses of Congress, 
of course, was necessary to the admission of Missouri. The 
South, having one half of the Senators, could prevent the 
Senate from voting for admission without slavery. The 
North, having control of the House of Representatives, 
could keep a slave territory out of the Union indefinitely. 
Just at that time, however, Maine, with the consent of 
Massachusetts, of which it had formerly been a part, was 
applying for admission. The friends of slavery would not 
admit a new free state unless their opponents would admit 
a new slave state. The contest was settled by a compromise. 
Missouri was admitted with slavery, and Maine with freedom, 
thus continuing the even balance between the free and slave 
states. 

Other Features of the Compromise. — At the same time 
it was agreed that the remainder of the Louisiana territory 
north of the parallel of 36° 30' should be forever free, and 
understood that south of that Hne slavery would continue. 
This was really a great gain for the friends of freedom, for 
the area won for li'berty was several times the size of 
the region left for slavery. Moreover, the principle was 
once more approved, that Congress could abolish slavery 
in the territories belonging to the United States. On the 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 371 

whole, therefore, the North came out of the conflict vic- 
torious, although some continued to declare that any con- 
cession to slavery was in fact a defeat. The moderate 
citizens on both sides were fairly well satisfied. 

II. The Abolition Movement 

Garrison and the "Liberator." — For a while after the Mis- 
souri Compromise, very httle was heard in national politics 
about slavery, and many people thought the question was 
settled forever. Their hopes were short-lived, however. 
Within a few years a number of Northern men and women 
began to agitate for the complete abolition of the slavery 
system throughout the entire Union. Some of them pro- 
posed gradual emancipation and the payment of the slave 
owners for their property, in part, at least, out of the sale 
of public lands. Others, more radical and more impatient, 
demanded immediate and unconditional abolition of slavery 
without any payment whatever. Among the latter was 
William Lloyd Garrison, who, in 1831, began to publish in 
Boston his famous paper, known as the Liheratoty bearing 
at its head the motto : " Our country is the world — our 
countrymen, all mankind." 

Agitators Create Bitter Opposition. — The group of radical 
agitators soon encountered bitter hatred on the part of the 
people at large in the North as well as in the South. While, 
no doubt, very few men in the North or South would have 
voted to establish slavery, if it had not already existed, the 
majority of them, as yet, took little or no interest in aboli- 
tion. Northern merchants and bankers objected to any 
agitation, because they had heavy investments in Southern 
trade and mortgages on Southern plantations. Others held 
that if the North opposed slavery the Southern states might 
secede, and thus break up the Union which had been built 
with such great labor and sacrifice. 



372 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

To this argument Garrison replied that the Union with 
slaveholders was an evil covenant, and that he preferred 
to see the Constitution of the Union in ruins rather than to 
remain longer a citizen of a slave nation. The opponents 
of the agitation stirred up riots against Garrison and his 
followers, and sometimes mobbed them when they at- 
tempted to state their views in public. In 1835 Garrison 
was assaulted in the streets of Boston. Two years later, 
Lovejoy, another anti-slavery leader, was killed at Alton, 
Illinois, and his printing presses broken to pieces, as a warn- 
ing to all men who attacked slavery. 

The agitators were not daunted by mobs. They pre- 
pared books, pamphlets, and leaflets depicting the evils 
of slavery, and sent their publications through the mails 
all over the South. This, of course, thoroughly frightened 
the Southern people. Their fear was increased by a terrible 
uprising of slaves in Virginia, in 183 1, known as Nat Turner's 
Rebellion, in which a number of white men, women, and 
children had been brutally killed. It was said in the South 
that the anti-slavery agitators were, in fact, encouraging 
negroes to murder their own masters. A demand was made 
that abolition literature should be excluded from the post 
office. 

Petitioning the Congress: the ^^ Gag Rule." — Among the 
favorite devices of the agitators was the use of the petition 
to Congress. They prepared protests against slavery in 
the territories, in the District of Columbia, and in the South- 
ern states as well, and secured thousands of signatures. 
These they dispatched to Congress from every direction. 
Southern Representatives in Congress insisted that it was 
insulting to them to receive such petitions and demanded 
that the practice be stopped. 

In 1836 the House of Representatives declared that, while 
it could not prevent anti-slavery agitators from circulating 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 373 

petitions and presenting them, it would prevent the reading 
of these petitions. Under this " gag " resolution, as it 
was called, petitions were simply thrown into the waste 
basket when they were received. For nearly ten years 
John Quincy Adams, the former President, then a mem- 
ber of Congress, continued to protest against this treat- 
ment of petitions. Finally, in 1844, the practice was 
abandoned. 

Slavery Grows in Spite of Opposition. — Notwithstanding 
the agitation against slavery, the slaveholders were to all 
appearances growing more and more powerful in the coun- 
try. The new machinery for spinning and weaving in Eng- 
land and New England created such a demand for cotton 
that all the energies of the South were required to supply it. 
In 1792, the year in which Whitney invented his cotton gin, 
less than two hundred thousand pounds of cotton was sent 
out of the United States to Europe. Within three years the 
shipments had risen to six million pounds. By 1850 cotton 
made up more than one naif of the total value of all the 
goods exported from the United States. No wonder the 
Southern leaders were saying " Cotton is King.'' 

The demand for laborers to till the fields increased and the 
number of slaves multiplied. In 1790 there were about 
700,000 slaves in the United States ; forty years later the 
number had grown to 2,000,000; and about i860 there were 
3,954,000, valued at more than ^2,000,000,000. In the 
older states, slave owners began to raise slaves to sell 
in the Southwest, and thousands were smuggled into the 
country from Africa in spite of the law against it. 

The Slaveholders a Small Group. — At the middle of the 
nineteenth century, only about one white man in five or 
six in the South owned slaves. Nevertheless, the slave 
owners, certainly less than one fourth of the adult white 
males in the slave states, ruled the South through their great 



374 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

wealth and power. The influence of this small class in the 
government at Washington was all the stronger, because the 
Constitution provided that in apportioning representatives 
among the states according to numbers, the South should be 
allowed to count three fifths of its slaves as persons. Thus 
a Southern state had more representatives in the lower house 
of Congress than a Northern state with the same number of 
voters. 

Calhoun's Defense of Slavery. — As the country grew 
richer and richer from cotton, Southern leaders became more 
and more impatient with the anti-slavery agitators. In 
the early days, many Southera statesmen had spoken of 
slavery as a great wrong, but the newer generation of South- 
ern men began to defend it warmly instead of criticizing 
or apologizing for it. For instance, Calhoun, Senator from 
South Carolina, said that slavery, far from being an evil 
was a good, " a perfect good," the only possible relation 
that could exist between the white race and the black. He 
said that the slaves were taken away from barbarism in 
Africa and brought up to a certain degree of civilization 
in the South ; that they were looked after in their sickness 
and old age by kind masters, and were not usually as cruelly 
treated as workmen in mills and factories. On the con- 
trary, he said, the modern workingman was in a sadder 
pHght than the slave, because he had to work for long hours 
and low wages in factories ; in case of sickness or accident 
he was compelled to starve ; and in his old age he was turned 
out to die or live in a poorhouse, because he was no longer 
valuable to his employer. Thus the Southern statesmen 
took issue with the anti-slavery agitators, denouncing the 
wage system of the North as more cruel to the workers than 
the slave -system of the South. Furthermore, they urged 
that discontented workmen would be more dangerous to 
the country as a whole than the peaceful bondmen. 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 375 

III. The Compromise of 1850 

The Wilmot Proviso. — All this discussion stirred up ill 
feeling in both sections of the Union, and when, after the 
close of the Mexican War, the question arose as to what 
should be done with the territory acquired, a storm again 
broke out in Congress over slavery. David Wilmot, a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, 
had proposed in 104^^ that any territory taken from Mexico 
should be free territory and that slavery should be entirely 
forbidden in it, as it had been in the Northwest Territory 
under the famous Ordinance of 1787. The slave owners had 
been very active in bringing on the Mexican War and were 
in no mood to surrender their rights in the territory finally 
taken from Mexico by the treaty of 1848. They intended to 
make it, as far as possible, slave territory and to increase and 
fortify the power of the South in the federal government. 
The "Wilmot Proviso,^' as it was called, was, therefore, re- 
jected. 

California Asks Admission. — Having defeated Wilmot's 
proviso, they were much disturbed to find the matter re- 
opened in 1849, when the voters of California called a con- 
vention, approved a state constitution forbidding slavery, 
and asked admission to the Union. President Taylor, 
the hero of the Mexican War, who had been elected as the 
Whig candidate in 1848, transmitted to Congress in 1850 
the request of California. Northern men were generally in 
favor of the proposal ; Southern leaders were opposed 
to it. 

Varying Opinions; ^^ Squatter Sovereignty.'^ — At that 
time the country was roughly divided into five groups : 

(i) A small number of agitators who were determined 
that slavery should be abolished, and were prepared to carry 
on an agitation until the goal was reached. 



376 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

(2) A small group of Southerners, equally determined on 
the other side, who declared that slavery was not only a 
good thing to be defended to the uttermost, but that it should 
be spread all over the territories of the West — perhaps 
all over the United States. 

(3) A very large group of Northerners who were wiUing 
to let slavery alone in the South, but were determined that 
it should not grow by extension to the territories, or to the 
new states admitted to the Union north of the Missouri 
compromise line. 

(4) A group of moderate Southern men who feared that 
by forcing slavery on all the territories they might bring 
about a desperate conflict between the North and the South, 
and, therefore, were willing to come to some compromise 
in the matter. 

(5) A group of men in the North and South who believed 
that voters of each territory should be permitted to decide 
whether or not they would establish slavery. This last 
plan — especially associated with the name of Stephen A. 
Douglas — was called " squatter sovereignty " because it 
proposed that the settlers or " squatters '' in the territories 
should decide the question for themselves without inter- 
ference from the outside. 

The Compromise of 1850. — As a result of the conflict 
among all these groups another compromise was arranged 
in 1850, by that master of compromises, Henry Clay, of 
Kentucky. He said it was evident that the people of each 
section would have to yield some of the points in the dis- 
pute in order to prevent war. He was able to bring about 
the following settlement : 

1. California was admitted as a free state. 

2. Buying and selling slaves was abolished in the District 
of Columbia, while slavery itself was continued there. 

3. The voters of the New Mexico and Utah territories 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 



377 



were to be permitted to choose for themselves between free- 
dom and slavery. 

4. There was enacted by Congress a strict "fugitive 
slave law ^' under which it was easier for slave owners to 
catch their runaway slaves in the North and take them 
home. 

Opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. — This great com- 
promise, arranged by poUtical leaders, failed to bring about 







The Fugitive Slave Law allowed runaway slaves in free territory to be captured. 



"the union of hearts,'^ as Clay had hoped. On the con- 
trary, it made the anti-slavery people in the North more 
bitter than ever. They were especially angry about the 
fugitive slave law. Before the passage of that act slave 
owners who sought to capture runaway slaves in the North 
had been compelled to depend upon local sheriffs and con- 
stables, and had found it difficult indeed to secure help in 
seizing their property. Under the new law of 1850 it was 
provided that United States officers should assume full re- 
sponsibility for aiding owners in search for their slaves. 



378 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

In many a Northern city and village where people had 
previously thought very little about slavery, they were now 
deeply stirred by seeing federal officers capture and handcuff 
negroes and drive them through the streets on the way 
South to their former owners. Thousands who had had no 
opinion about slavery one way or the other were now op- 
posed to it. 

The " Underground Railroad.^' — As time went on the 
opponents of slavery helped more and more negroes to 
escape from the South. They laid out certain routes known 
as " underground railroads " from village to village, and 
selected in each place one or two trusted families as guards. 
They sent agents into the South to bring slaves into free 
states, and then carried them at night along these routes, 
hiding them in the daytime in cellars and garrets at the 
homes of the keepers of " underground stations.'' 

"Uncle Tom's Cabin." — While this agitation was going 
on, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe published, in 1852, her 
famous novel, " Uncle Tom's Cabin," in which she set forth 
the worst features of slavery in the most vivid language. 
The book seemed to show that all masters were unkind and 
that all slaves were as noble as Uncle Tom, though, of course, 
this was not the purpose of the author. 

Perhaps nothing else stirred the North so much as this 
moving story. Hundreds of thousands of copies were sold 
in a short time. It was dramatized and played in every 
little village and hamlet throughout the North. Thus liter- 
ally millions of people who were not accustomed to read 
serious books and newspapers began to wonder whether 
they should longer tolerate slavery. Southern people 
were also stirred by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." They said 
it was not a true picture of slavery and was an insult to 
the entire South. Ill will between the sections was greatly! 
increased. 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 379 

Anti-slavery Political Parties. — Some of the most active 
anti-slavery leaders ventured to leave the old parties — 
Whigs and Democrats — and found a new one. In 1840, 
a few of them held a convention and nominated James C. 
Birney for President, but their candidate polled only about 
seven thousand votes in the election of that year. They 
named their organization the " Liberty Party," and, with 
Birney as their candidate again in 1844, they secured 
sixty-two thousand votes. Four years later the opponents 
of slavery formed the " Free Soil Party," nominated for 
President Martin Van Buren, of New York, and obtained 
nearly three hundred thousand votes, largely, it seems, 
from former Northern Democrats who were loyal to the 
stanch friend of Andrew Jackson. The next presidential 
year, the Free Soil party suffered a serious decline in strength, 
for the popular vote for its candidate, John P. Hale, of New 
Hampshire, was only about half that secured in 1848. 

IV. The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and Its 
Consequences 

The pro-slavery advocates among the Democrats, on 
electing their candidate, Franklin Pierce, in 1852, came to 
the conclusion that the danger from the abolitionists was 
subsiding. 

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Repeals the Missouri 
Compromise. — Apparently overconfident, under the leader- 
ship of Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, the Democrats 
took a step in favor of slavery which startled the North. 
In 1854, in an act organizing the Kansas and Nebraska 
territories, they repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, 
by which it had been agreed that slavery should be pro- 
hibited in the Louisiana Territory north of 36° 30'. 

The North flamed up at once. Hundreds of moderate 
men — Whigs and Democrats alike — who were willing to let 




The Kansas-Nebraska Territory 
Opened to Slavery in 1854 



380 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

slavery alone in the states where it already existed, said this 
bill showed a determination on the part of slave owners 

to rule or ruin the whole 
country. Douglas was 
burned in effigy in Northern 
cities — indeed, he said him- 
self that he could travel 
from Boston to Chicago in 
the Hght of the fires. Men 
began to desert the Whigs, 
who refused to take a stand 
on the slavery question, and 
the Democrats, who seemed 
committed to the slave- 
holding interest. These de- 
serters from the old parties 
demanded that the extension of slavery, at least in the ter- 
ritories, be stopped. 

The Republican Party Organized (1854)-— So it came 

about in 1854 that a new party, called the Repubhcan 

party, was formed in the North. It held its first national 

convention at Philadelphia in June, 1856, and nommated 

for President John C. Fremont, the Western explorer. It 

declared that it was the right and duty of Congress to 

prohibit slavery in the territories, and that Kansas should 

be admitted as a free state. With the advent of the 

Republicans, the Whigs began to go to pieces and many 

Democrats, who disliked slavery, went over to the new party. 

In the campaign of 1856, however, the Democrats were 

again victorious, electing James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, 

by nearly five hundred thousand votes more than Fremont 

polled. -Ill 

Border Warfare in Kansas. — Having carried the elec- 
tion, the Democrats let the people of Kansas fight out 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 



381 



among themselves the question as to whether slavery 
should be permitted there. They literally did fight — with 
rifles and knives. Pro-slavery men from_ the South and 
anti-slavery men and women from the North rushed to 
Kansas, each side bent on winning the state. The result 
was a veritable civil war. The attention of the whole nation 
was called to " bleeding Kansas " — and to the utter failure 



«0''. frt,S. 

T.I »c J. 










The Hurly-Burly Pot 
A Democratic cartoon showing the Republican party as a collection of discontented 

elements. 

of the doctrine of " squatter sovereignty '' as a plan for 
settling the issue of slavery. Southern Democrats wanted 
to bring Kansas into the Union under a constitution which 
protected al' the slave owners who had taken their slaves 
into the territory. The Free Soil men rejected it and drew 
up a constitution of their own at Topeka, but Congress 
refused to admit Kansas as a free state until 1861. 

The Died Scott Decision (1857). — Although they were 
defeated in their effort to make Kansas a slave state, the 



382 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

pro-slavery Democrats won a great victory by a decision of 
the Supreme Court of the United States, in March, 1857. 
Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, had been taken by his mas- 
ter into territory north of the Missouri Compromise Hne, 
and he claimed in the Supreme Court of the United States 
that residence in this "free territory" made him" free. '^ 
In deciding the Case, Chief Justice Taney declared that 
Congress had no power under the Constitution to aboHsh 
slavery in the territories. This meant that it would be nec- 
essary to change the Constitution before Congress could 
legally prohibit slavery there, and it required the approval 
of three fourths of all the states to amend the Constitu- 
tion. The Court also held that the Missouri Compromise 
had been unconstitutional and void. The Southern lead- 
ers and their Northern sympathizers rejoiced in the decision, 
for apparently the Supreme Court had blocked the plan of 
the new Republican party to abolish slavery in all the terri- 
tories by act of Congress. Anti-slavery leaders denounced 
the Court and said that it was nothing but a tool of the 
slave owners. They declared that Congress would prohibit 
slavery in spite of what the Supreme Court had said. 

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. — About this time, Abra- 
ham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, candidates in Illinois 
for the United States Senate, held a series of debates which 
attracted the attention of the whole country. Lincoln took 
the ground that slavery should be prohibited in the ter- 
ritories and vigorously attacked Douglas' doctrine of 
"squatter sovereignty." He asked Douglas how the people 
of a territory could abolish slavery, when the Dred Scott 
decision had declared that even Congress, which had the 
supreme power in governing the territories, could not do it. 
This forced Dduglas into a corner, but he continued to 
maintain that the people of a territory by "unfriendly" 
legislation c6uld lawfully drive out slavery. 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 



383 



Although Douglas won the election, he really lost the 
debates. The extremists among the Southern leaders were 
furious with him for saying that slavery could be abolished in 
a territory by popular action, thus destroying the fruits of the 
Dred Scott decision. Lincoln, on the other hand, as a result 




From a photograph 

One of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Seven of which were Held be- 



of his clear and striking statement of the Republican case 
against slavery in the territories, became a national figure. 

John Brown's Raid. — While Lincoln was attacking 
slavery in the territories, and the abolitionists were de- 
nouncing it everywhere, a grim and resolute man, John 



384 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Brown, with a band of followers, invaded the South foi 
the purpose of stirring up a slave revolt and bringing about 
emancipation by violence. Brown so hated slavery that it 
rankled in his bosom day and night. During the bloody 
struggle in Kansas he had hurried to the frontier to fight 
slave owners, and by deeds of daring and cruelty had become 
an outlaw on whose head a high price was set. In 1859 he 
went into Virginia. In October of that year, with a hand- 
ful of men, he seized the government armory at Harper's 
Ferry, declared the slaves whom he found there to be free, 
and called upon them to take up arms for their liberty. 
While fighting desperately. Brown was captured. A few 
weeks later he was declared guilty of murder and treason 
against Virginia and hanged. 

Like an alarm bell on a still night, this raid brought the 
hearts of the American people to their throats. The 
South had visions of terrible slave uprisings in every com- 
munity. Lincoln and nearly all the Republican leaders de- 
nounced Brown's rash deed as the act of a madman. But 
it strained still more the weakening tie between the North 
and the South. 

V. The Political Situation on the Eve of the Civil 

War 

The Tariff and Homestead Issues. — Deeply as the re- 
peal of the Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott de- 
cision were resented in the North, it was by no means cer- 
tain that the majority of the voters were in favor of abolishing 
slavery in the territories or even disturbing slavery at all. 
It was apparently impossible for the Republicans to win 
the presidency on the slavery question alone. Luckily for 
them, the Democrats gave them another issue by attacking 
the protective tariff. 

In 1857, the year of the Dred Scott decision. Congress, 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 385 

under the direction of Southern leaders, made a decided re- 
duction in the tariff, much to the dissatisfaction of the 
middle and western states, particularly Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. Thousands of people who did not care about slavery 
at all did care about this " assault upon American in- 
dustry" by the Southern planters. Feeling against the 
Democrats was further increased, especially among the 
farmers of the West and workingmen, when President 
Buchanan vetoed an act of Congress proposing to give 
farms practically free of charge to those who wished to settle 
on the government lands. The South was afraid that it 
would be overbalanced by the commercial, manufacturing, 
and free farming states of the North, if it permitted the 
encouragement of industries by tariffs and the immediate 
settlement of the western lands by free gifts. 

The Republican Aid to Manufacturers and Farmers. — 
When the Republicans came to hold their second national 
convention at Chicago in i860, they found themselves 
strengthened by new and powerful recruits: (i) advocates 
of a high protective tariff and (2) friends of the free farmers 
and workingmen who wanted to open up the western lands 
for rapid settlement. In their platform, the Republicans 
declared against slavery in the territories and in favor of 
a protective tariff and free homesteads. All these issues 
were dovetailed together. If the territories were free and 
free states were erected out of them, the predominance of 
the South would be broken forever in the Senate as well 
as in the House of Representatives. The industrial states 
would then be in less danger of attacks upon laws pro- 
tecting their manufacturing interests. The question of 
slavery was therefore involved in another issue — the con- 
test between the two economic systems — the planting 
South and the manufacturing North. The free farmers of 
the West held the balance of power. 



386 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



fi 



Lincoln, a Son of the Soil. — When the hour came for 
selecting their candidate, the Republicans had to be careful. 
It was necessary to win Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The 
southern sections of these states were filled with settlers 
from the South who, even if they did not hke slavery, 
were violently opposed to anything that savored of 
abolition. In the other parts of these states the confidence 
of the farmers had to be won. The selection of a violent 
opponent of slavery, like William H. Seward, Senator from 
New York, was therefore thought unwise. So the managers 
made a happy choice. They chose Abraham Lincoln, a man 
of Southern origin, a son of the soil, born of poor parents, 
a pioneer who had in his youth labored in the forests and 
fields. It was known that he disliked slavery but that he 
was no abolitionist. Though willing to let slavery alone 
in the South, he was firmly in favor of unconditional 
prohibition of slavery in the territories. Of his sincerity 
there could be no doubt. He was a speaker and writer of 
singular power, commanding, by the use of clear and simple 
language, the minds and hearts of those who heard him or 
read his printed words. With Lincoln as a candidate, the 
farmers of the Northwest could be won ; and, with the pro- 
tective tariff plank in the platform, the great industrial state 
of Pennsylvania could be torn away from the free-trade 
Democrats. While the abolitionists were not satisfied with 
the candidate or the platform, moderate opponents of slav- 
ery exulted in the thought of limiting the system to the 
states where it already existed. 

Division among the Democrats. — The Democrats, in- 
stead of presenting a solid front to the Republicans, were 
divided among themselves. In fact, they split into two 
parties. The moderate Democrats nominated as their 
candidate Douglas, the exponent of " squatter sovereignty.'* 
The uncompromising, pro-slavery Democrats, who demanded 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 



387 



that slavery should be recognized as right and upheld by 
the country, put forward as their candidate John C. Breck- 
enridge, of Kentucky. Some of the old Whigs and moder- 
ate Democrats selected John Bell of Tennessee on a platform 




From a photograp; 

The Democratic Convention of i860, which Split, Nominating Two 
Candidates for the Presidency 

which called for loyalty to the Union and silence on the 
slavery issue. With the country thus divided, Lincoln 
was elected President, although he polled little more than 
one third of the total vote. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. — I. What were the provisions of the Constitution regard- 
ing slavery .? What did many of the prominent Southern mem- 
bers of the Convention think of slavery? 2. Why did the 



388 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

South oppose the admission of new ''free" states ? Why did the 
North oppose the admission of new ''slave" states? 3. Would 
you speak of the opposition of the North to the extension of 
slavery as due to a belief that slavery was wrong ? Give reasons 
for your answer. 4. What is meant by a " compromise " ? 
State the principal points of the Missouri Compromise. 

II. I. Who were the "abolitionists" .? How did their attitude 
toward slavery differ from that of most of the people of the North ? 
Who were the important leaders among the abolitionists ? 

2. What was the "gag rule" and how did it come to be passed .? 

3. What conditions led to the large increase in the number and 
value of slaves in the southern states .? 4. What were Calhoun's 
arguments in defense of slavery ^ 

III. I. Why is the "Wilmot proviso" remembered in our 
history even though it failed to become a law .? 2. Name the 
important events and conditions that led to the Compromise of 
1850.? What were the provisions of the Compromise.? Which 
of these were favorable to the North and which to the South } 
3. Why did the South demand that the federal government pass 
a fugitive slave law ^ In your opinion, considering the conditions 
that existed, was this demand justified ? 4. Who wrote "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin".? Why would a book like this have an influence 
that newspaper articles and speeches in Congress could not have 
in increasing the feeling against slavery .? 

IV. I. In what way did the Kansas-Nebraska Act repeal the 
Missouri Compromise.? 2. What was meant by "squatter sov- 
ereignty " .? Why was it hoped that this might settle the slavery 
quarrel .? Why was this hope given up .? 3. Name the steps that 
led to the formation of the Republican party. What other politi- 
cal parties opposed to the extension of slavery had preceded it ? 
What important party did it displace .? 4. Why was the Dred 
Sco« decision unpopular in the North .? 5. State the important 
differences between the position taken by Douglas and that taken 
by Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. 

Review: i. From the table of presidents (Appendix, p. 641) 
find the administration in which each of the following events 
occurred: The Missouri Compromise; the passage of the "gag 
rule"; the Compromise of 1850; the Kansas-Nebraska act; the 
Dred Scott decision; the Lincoln-Douglas debates; "border 
warfare" in Kansas. 2. Each of the following dates is connected 



THE GREAT POLITICAL CONFLICT 389 

with an important event relating to slavery. Find out what the 
event was and why it is considered important: 1619, 1787, 1789, 
1808, 1820, 1846, 1850, 1854, 1857, 1858. - 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Imagine yourself living on a southern plantation during 
slavery days. Give an account of how the work of the plantation 
was done and how the slaves were treated. 

See Hart's *' Romance of the Civil War," pp. 1-8, 9-13, 
18-28. 

2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act has been said to be "the most 
momentous piece of legislation in the United States before the 
Civil War." Give as many reasons as you can for considering it 
so important. 

See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. 
XV ; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 284-287; Nicolay's "Abraham 
Lincoln," pp. 94-107; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Na- 
tion," pp. 378-383- 

3. Select one of the following men for special study. Be ready 
to tell the class what this man did to make his name remembered 
in connection with this important period of American history : 

Henry (Slay: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," 
Book II, pp. 158-165; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Na- 
tion," ch. viii; Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, 
pp. 225-229. 

©aniel Webster: See Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," 
192-199; Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, 
pp. 166-175 ; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," ch. x. 

Stephen A. Douglas: See Elson's "Side-Lights on American 
History," vol. i, pp. 3®®-336; Ni«®lay's "Abraham Lincoln" (see 
references under Douglas in the index); Hart's "S®urce Beek," 
pp. 291-294. 

John €. €alh®un : See Hart's "Source Book," pp. 234-237. 

4. Tell the story of Lincoln's life with reference to the part 
that he played in the events described in this chapter. 

See Nioelay's "Abraham Lincoln," chs. vi, vii, viii, ix ; Wheeler's 
"Abraham Lincoln," chs. xiv, xv ; Southworth's "Builders of 
@ur Country," Book II, pp. 199-205; Sparks's "The Men Who 
Made the Nation," pp. 378-390. 



CHAPTER XXI I 

THE CIVIL WAR 

I. Secession 

When the news of Lincoln's election was received, the 
more determined southern leaders prepared to take their 
states out of the Union. South Carolina led the way. 
The voters were ordered by the state legislature to elect 
delegates to a convention which met in Charleston on 
December 17, i860. After a few days of debate the con- 
vention passed a resolution declaring that the union 
between South Carolina and the other states was dis- 
solved, and that South Carolina would take her place 
among the "free and independent nations of the earth." 
Other states to the far south followed the example set by 
South Carolina. Before March 4, 1861, the time for the 
inauguration of Lincoln, Mississippi, Plorida, Alabama, 
Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had seceded and proclaimed 
their independence. 

In withdrawing from the Union the southern leaders 
declared that they were acting lawfully for these reasons : 
(i) the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain had recognized 
each state by name as free and independent ; (2) the 
Articles of Confederation had expressly recognized that 
each state was "sovereign"; (3) the Constitution had 
been made by agreement among free and equal states ; 
and (4) sovereign states had a legal and moral right to 
cancel such an agreement. 

390 



THE CIVIL WAR 



391 




The Confederate States of America. — In order to main- 
tain their independence and defend themselves, in case 
the government of the United States should attempt by 
force to keep them under the Stars and Stripes, these seven 
states sent delegates to a conven- 
tion held in Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, on February 4, 1861, for 
the purpose of forming a Union of 
their own. The delegates drafted 
a plan of government in many re- 
spects like the Constitut on of the 
United States. It did not leave 
untouched, however, the question 
whether a state could withdraw 

from the Union ; on the contrary, 

•^ Jefferson Davis 

It expressly declared that each 

state was free, sovereign, and independent. Moreover, it 
adopted the name " Confederate States of America," thus 
announcing to the world that the league so formed was 
merely an association of independent states. The Mont- 
gomery convention, unlike the Philadelphia convention of 
1787, which had even refused to mention slavery in the 
Constitution, declared that the protection of slavery was 
one of the prime purposes of the Confederacy. In order 
to put the new government into effect, Jefferson Davis, 
of Mississippi, was elected president, and Alexander H. 
Stephens, of Georgia, vice president. Davis was a man 
of undoubted ability and courage, who had long defended 
the rights of the South as he saw them. The people of the 
Confederacy looked to him, with confidence and affection, 
as a great leader. 

Divided Opinion in the North. — In the North various 
views were held about the withdrawal of the slave states 
from the Union. Many of the radical Abolitionists rejoiced. 



392 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

and declared that they were happy to be free from the 
union with the slaveholders. The President of the United 
States, James Buchanan, though he regarded the action of 
the seceded states as illegal, lamely announced that he 
had no power to compel them by force to remain in the 
Union. General Scott, commander of the Army of the 
United States, while he felt that secession was deplorable, 
said that the " erring states '' should be permitted to go their 
way unmolested. Horace Greeley, the editor of the New 
York Tribune, openly expressed the opinion that the South- 
ern states had a perfect right to form a union of their own. 

The Proposed " Crittenden Compromise.'' — The more mod- 
erate men on both sides, particularly the leaders from what 
were known as the " border states " between the North and 
the far South, condemned secession in strong terms and 
sought to arrange a compromise. Senator Crittenden, of 
Kentucky, proposed in Congress an amendment to the Con- 
stitution, providing : 

(i) that the territory north of 36° 30' should be free, and 
all south of that line, slave; 

(2) that all states thereafter admitted to the Union should 
be permitted to decide for themselves whether or not they 
would have slavery; 

(3) that the United States should pay slave owners for 
any slaves that escaped to the North. 

Senator Crittenden's plan was rejected by the Republi- 
can leaders. With the approval of Lincoln they agreed 
upon a thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, pro- 
viding that no amendment should ever be made author- 
izing Congress to abolish or interfere with slavery in any 
of the states of the Union. Congress passed it by the 
necessary two-thirds vote, and it was awaiting the approval 
of the states when the clash of arms came. If it had been 
adopted, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 



THE CIVIL WAR 



393 



instead of abolishing slavery throughout the United States, 
would have made it perpetual in the states where it existed, 
unless these states themselves did away with it. 

The Leaders on Both Sides Stand Firm. — Prominent 
leaders on both sides refused to listen to compromise. 
Jefferson Davis declared that Lincoln, by his attacks on 
slavery, had in effect declared war upon Southern institu- 
tions, and that a conflict between the two sections of the 
country was inevitable. He added that if war must come 
** it must be on Northern and not on Southern soil." This 
sounded like a threat of invasion, as indeed it was ; for Davis 
went on to say that the Southerners would carry the war into 
the densely populated cities of the North " where food for 
the sword and torch awaits our armies." Lincoln, on his 
part, replied that " both parties deprecated war; but one 
of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, 
and the other would accept war rather than let it perish." 
The states of the far South would not remain in the Union 
except upon their own terms, and the Republican leaders 
would neither accept their terms nor allow them to go in 
peace from the Union. 

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. — In his inaugural 
address of March 4, 1861, Lincoln declared that (i) the 
Union was older than the Constitution and independence ; 
(2) that it was intended to be perpetual; (3) that the 
states were pledged to maintain it ; and (4) that no state 
merely on its own motion had the right to withdraw from 
it. He added that he would, to the extent of his ability, en- 
force the federal laws in all the states ; and that he would 
defend and maintain the Union. He closed his memorable 
address by saying to the South : 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in 
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not 
assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves 



394 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy 
the government, while / shall have the most solemn one "to pre- 
serve, protect, and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not 
enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion 
may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. 
The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle field 
and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over 
this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again 
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 



Fort Sumter Surrendered (April 14, 1861). — As the 
inaugural address showed, Lincoln w^as determined to 
maintain the Union. Still, hoping for a peaceful solution 
of the problem, he took no strong measures immediately, 
and many Southern leaders thought that the people of 
the North would not fight. Indeed, President Davis said 
that they would not. The dispute in words might have 
gone on indefinitely, if the government at Washington had 
not attempted to furnish food supplies to United States 
troops occupying one of the regular government posts, 
Fort Sumter, on an island in the harbor of Charleston, 
South Carolina. In April, 1861, President Lincoln pre- 
pared to send relief. He informed the governor of South 
Carolina that he had decided to dispatch aid to the 
virtually imprisoned federal officers at Fort Sumter. The 
Confederates regarded this as an act of war, and their 
gunners in the Charleston forts, on April 12, 1861, began 
to bombard Fort Sumter. Two days later the federal 
commander, Major Anderson, was compelled to surrender. 
On April 15, President Lincoln issued his memorable 
proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers. 
How little did the country realize the seriousness of the 
struggle thus begun ! 

Other Southern States Secede. — When the first shot 
was fired, those who had been slow to make up their minds 



1 



THE CIVIL WAR 



395 



were compelled to take sides. In the South, the middle 
tier of states, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and 
Virginia, broke from the Union and joined the Con- 
federacy. In all these states, however, the citizens were 
divided, and it required the most determined action on the 
part of the leaders, especially in North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia, to carry them out of the Union. In the western 
part of Virginia the Union sentiment was so strong that 
several counties were altogether opposed to secession. Two 
years later they and a number of additional counties 
were cut away from the Old Dominion, and admitted to 
the Union as the state of West Virginia. By dint of hard 
labor also, the northern tier of Southern states, Maryland, 
Kentucky, and Missouri,^ was kept within the Union, al- 
though thousands of their citizens desired to join the Con- 
federacy, and either went over to the Southern armies, or 
waged war on their Unionist neighbors at home. 

II. ^Preparations for War 

The Advantages of the South. — At the outset of the struggle 
the Southern states had certain advantages. They had been 
feverishly preparing for war for months before the inaugura- 
tion of Lincoln, and had taken possession of the federal forts 
and arsenals within their borders. Their statesmen had 
controlled the national government for several years and 
had left it weak and defenseless. In addition to men and 
suppHes, the South had able and devoted generals, Hke 
Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. Jackson, and Joseph E. John- 
ston, who had been well trained at West Point. They 

1 In Missouri there was an especially severe contest. The government was 
in the hands of men who favored secession and who attempted to turn the state 
over to the Southern side. By the efforts of the Union men, led by Francis P. 
Blair and General Lyon, the state government was overthrown. While the ma- 
jority favored the Union, there was a strong Southern minority, and several 
months of fighting followed. 



396 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

felt bound by allegiance to their native states to place them- 
selves at the service of the Confederacy. In the control of 
an aristocracy, brave and dashing, the Southern states were 
a foe that had to be taken seriously. 

The Advantages of the North. — The North, on the other 
hand, had many things in its favor. The total population 
of the country was about 31,000,000 in round numbers. A 
little more than 22,000,000 lived in the Northern states ; 
of the Southern population, more than 3,500,000 were slaves. 
The white males of the South, of all ages, numbered less 
than 3,000,000; before the war was brought to an end the 
North had put almost as many soldiers in the field. Nearly 
all the manufacturing establishments in the country, par- 
ticularly the iron, steel, and munitions plants, were in the 
North. The South was consequently under the necessity 
of securing a very large portion of her military supplies 
from England. 

The wealth of the North was many times greater than 
that of the South, and the federal government was better 
able to borrow money to carry on the war. The Southern 
people depended for money largely upon the sale of their 
cotton crop in the North and in Europe. The North was 
soon able to ruin the export and import trade of the 
Confederate States by blockading all the coast and captur- 
ing vessels that attempted to enter or clear from the har- 
bors. As a result of this blockade, the amount of cotton 
exported fell from ^202,000,000 in i860 to ^42,000,000 in 
i86i,and to ^4,000,000 in 1862. Having the weight of men 
and money and material resources on her side, the North 
was bound to win, unless the South could strik-e terror into 
the country by a series of quick and brilliant victories. 

Confidence of Victory on Both Sides. — Each side, thinking 
of its strength, rather than its weakness, began the war in 
high confidence. President Davis evidently thought it 



THE CIVIL WAR 



397 



would be only a short time before the victorious Southern 
army would be in the very heart of the North. President 
Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men to serve three 
months seemed to imply that the Northern government, too, 
believed in its own early triumph. Both sides were deceived 
in their hopes and were soon awake to the seriousness of the 
task before them. The first blood was shed on April 19, 
1861, when some soldiers of the Sixth Massachusetts Regi- 
ment were attacked in Baltimore and several men were killed 
and wounded. Not until four years later — April 9, 1865 
— did the Confederate army under General Lee lay down 
its arms at Appomattox. 

The Volunteer System Gives Way to Conscription. — 
When the war began, both sides relied on volunteers to do 
the fighting. Before long they had to resort to drafting 
soldiers into their armies. In the South practically every 
able-bodied white male capable of bearing arms was in time 
drawn into the war. In the North, where more men were 
available, drafting by lot left a much larger proportion at 
home. Under the federal conscription law of 1863 it was 
provided by the government that each state should fur- 
nish a certain number of soldiers, and it was then decided by 
lot who should go. This drafting of soldiers was resisted 
in New York, where riots broke out and many people were 
killed. A bad feature of the law was the provision that 
any one who was drawn by lot could escape military service 
by paying ^300 for a "substitute." In this way, the well- 
to-do could avoid military service, and the poor man who 
could not raise that amount of money had to go whether he 
liked it or not. 

War Plans of the North. — It is impossible here to describe 
all the important battles and engagements of the long war, 
and merely to enumerate them in their order would only 
lead to confusion in the mind of the reader. Moreover, 



<!q8 the history of THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ^m 

m 

they were all fought in some relation to one another and to 
larger plans which the authorities on both sides had in mind, 
and must be considered in that connection. The important 
features of Northern policy may be briefly stated : 

1. Saving the border states to the Union through early 
occupation by federal troops. 

2. Splitting the Confederacy into two parts by a drive 
down the Mississippi Valley. 

3. Cutting off the supplies obtained by the Confederacy 
in Europe by the establishment of a naval blockade of 
Southern ports. 

4. A blow at the heart of the Confederacy by the capture 
of the capital, Richmond, Virginia. 

If we consider these movements in order of time and with 
relation to geography, it helps the memory to divide them 
as follows : 

The Campaigns of 1861 and 1862 

a. Saving the Border States 

b. The Eastern Campaigns 

c. The Western Campaigns 
The Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. i, 1863) 
The War on Water 
The Campaigns of 1863 

a. The Eastern Campaigns 

b. The Western Campaigns 
The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865 



III. The Campaigns of 1861 and 1862 

Early Union Reverses in the East. The Battle of Bull Run 
{July 21, 1861). — In the East the Confederates were es- 
pecially well prepared. They established their capital at 
Richmond, Virginia, and mobilized in that state strong 
armies of disciplined soldiers commanded by able officers. 
They formed a solid defensive front for the seceded states, 



THE CIVIL WAR 



399 



and were, besides, a constant menace to the capital of the 
Union. 

President Lincoln realized the grave danger; but swift ac- 
tion to avert it was impossible. The regular army of the 
United States, after the withdrawal of the Southern states, 
was only a handful. The call for volunteers was enthusiasti- 
cally answered throughout the North and by midsummer 
nearly 200,000 loyal men were under arms. To pit these raw 
and untrained troops at once against the armies in Virginia 
was to invite disaster, and yet all the time the country was 
clamoring for immediate action. "On to Richmond!" was 
flung out on banners and cried in the streets. 

The clamor could not be resisted, and General McDowell, 
in command of federal troops, was ordered to attack the 
Southern general, Beauregard, stationed in northern Virginia. 
Prophecies of cautious military men were more than fulfilled. 
On the field of Bull Run, less than a day's horseback ride 
southwest of Washington, the untrained federal army, after 
fighting bravely for many hours, crumpled up and was driven 
from the field in utter rout. It was in this battle that the 
Confederate general, Thomas J. Jackson, stood out so 
bravely against the assaults of the Union troops that he 
won for himself the title of " Stonewall " by which he was 
ever afterwards known, 

McClellan's Unsuccessful Campaign. — After this dis- 
astrous defeat the North began to realize better what a 
formidable task lay before it. General McClellan, in com- 
mand of the Union troops protecting Washington, set 
about drilling his soldiers and properly equipping his army 
for great campaigns. It was not until the spring of 1862 
that he was ready for action, and even then he was so cau- 
tious that he was severely criticized on every hand for de- 
lays and slow movements. However, in May, 1862, his 
army was within a few miles of Richmond and it looked as 



400 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



if victory might be at hand. But in the battle of Seven 
Days (June 26-July 2, 1862) McClellan was forced back, 
and all hope of the immediate capture of Richmond had to 
be abandoned. A little later in that year the Union troops, 
under General Pope, were again beaten at a second battle 
of Bull Run and driven back toward Washington. 




Field of Many of the Battles of the War 

Lee Invades Maryland (1862). Aniietam and Fredericks- 
hurg. — The spirit of the Southern troops was now at a 
high point and General Lee boldly invaded Maryland. In 
September, 1862, McClellan with much larger forces at- 
tacked Lee's army, and in the battle of Antietam gained 
an advantage which was regarded in the North as a victory, 
although he lost more men than the Confederates. General 
Lee viewed it as a drawn battle, but retreated into Virginia 
to reorganize. Had General McClellan acted with more zeal 



THE CIVIL WAR 



401 




he might have inflicted a real defeat on the Southern troops. 
Such at least was the view taken by the authorities at 
Washington, and he was removed 
from his command. 

His successor, General Burnside, 
was even less fortunate. In the 
battle of Fredericksburg, in De- 
cember, 1862, he was badly defeated 
in an attempt to storm General 
Lee's fortified posts on Marye's 
Heights behind the town of Fred- 
ericksburg on the Rappahannock 
River. Having needlessly sacrificed 
thousands of brave soldiers. Burn- 
side gave up his post in despair and General Joseph 
Hooker was placed at the head of the Army of the Potomac. 
At the close of the year 1862, everything looked discourag- 
ing for the Union in the eastern theater of the war. 

Union Successes in the West. Forts Henry and Donelson 
Captured. — In the West the Northern armies were more 
successful. In that section there were two generals of un- 
doubted talent, Ulysses Simpson Grant, a graduate of 
West Point, who had seen real fighting in the Mexican 
War, and George H. Thomas. By the opening of 1862, 
these commanders had made sure that Kentucky was 
safely held for the Union. In February, 1862, General 
Grant, aided by Commodore Foote in charge of a fleet of 
gunboats, captured two Confederate strongholds. Fort 
Henry on the Tennessee River, and Fort Donelson on the 
Cumberland River. Thus the way was opened for a drive 
southward through Tennessee. 

The Struggle for Missouri and Arkansas. — In Missouri 
strong forces had been raised on both sides. The Confeder- 
ates under General Price, reenforced by Arkansas troops. 



2D 



402 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



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The War in the West 



THE CIVIL WAR 403 

defeated the Unionists under General Lyon at Wilson's Creek 
in August, 1 861. Southern Missouri was recovered to the 
Union a few months later, however, and the Confederate 
army was pushed southward into Arkansas. The Union 
victory at Pea Ridge (March, 1862) practically decided the 
war west of the Mississippi. 

Farragut Captures New Orleans. Battles of Shiloh and 
Murfreesboro. — In April, 1862, the North was thrilled by 
the news that Admiral Farragut had steamed into the Mis- 
sissippi, bombarded the forts at the mouth of the river, 
destroyed the Confederate fleet, and captured the city of 
New Orleans. A month later, by a series of desperate 
actions, including battles at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Land- 
ing, and Murfreesboro, Union troops in the West had driven 
their battle line down to the northern borders of Missis- 
sippi, Alabama, and Georgia, to the east of the Mississippi 
River. West of the river the battle line had moved down 
almost to the Arkansas Rivef before the close of 1862. 



IV. Emancipation 

A Bold Blow at Southern Power. — In spite of the west- 
ern successes and the beUef that the Army of the Potomac 
would be able to hold the Confederate Army of Vir- 
ginia, it was plain to all, at the end of twelve months' 
fighting, that a great struggle lay before the government 
of the United States, if it was to be victorious. The^North 
was full of Southern sympathizers, " Copperheads," they 
were called, who urged peace at any price ; and in every 
section there were faint-hearted loyalists who looked upon 
the war as a failure or at best a deadlock. 

In the summer of 1862, it was evident that somethmg 
heroic was necessary to reassure the faith of the North, to 
baptize the people with a new fire, and to deliver a more 



404 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

telling blow at Southern strength. Then it was that 
diplomacy was added to miHtary strategy. The true source 
of Southern power was the devotion of the slaves who tilled 
the soil, kept order at home, and supplied the armies in the 
field. To strike at slavery was to strike at the very heart 
of Southern military strength. It was more than that. To 
abolish it was to make the war for Union, a lofty ideal in 
itself, still more appealing to the hearts of men and women 
in the North by enlarging it into a war for freedom. 

Lincoln Decides on Emancipation. — It required courage 
and faith to take the step. Idealists had long urged it 
upon Lincoln ; military commanders in need of laborers 
and soldiers had demanded it; but he had held back. Not 
until he became convinced that it was a military measure 
necessary to the salvation of the Union did he yield to 
the insistent demands of the friends of abohtion. In the 
autumn of 1862, he " vowed to God " that if General 
McClellan was victorious ov&v the army of Virginia at the 
battle of Antietam, he would issue a proclamation of eman- 
cipation. Although McClellan did not win a glorious victory, 
his success was regarded as a distinct gain for the North. 
The danger that the Army of Virginia might strike a mortal 
blow at the National Capital and invade the heart of the 
North seemed averted. On September 22, 1862, therefore, 
Lincoln announced that if the Confederate States did not come 
back into the Union before January i, 1863, he would pro- 
claim the slaves within those states forever free. The Confed- 
eracy regarded this as an idle threat. But on January i, 1863, 
Lincoln, exercising his war power as Commander-in-chief of 
the Army and Navy, issued the Proclamation of Emancipa- 
tion, freeing all the slaves within the territory then held by 
the Confederate army. 

Emancipation and Abolition. — Inasmuch as the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation is commonly misunderstood, attention 



THE CIVIL WAR 



405 



should be called to two special points, (i) The procla- 
mation did not abolish slavery ; it merely emancipated or 
freed the slaves in that part of the country waging war 
against the government of the United States. Slavery 
continued to exist after the proclamation in those slave 






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Scene in Congress at the Time of the Passage of the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment TO the Constitution 



States which had not seceded, namely, Delaware, Maryland, 
West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and also in Ten- 
nessee and those parts of Louisiana and Virginia occupied 
by the Union army. (2) It was not certain whether this 
emancipation of the slaves could be sustained after the 
war was over, because Lincoln had no civil authority over 
slavery. As Commander-in-chief of the Army of the 
United States, he could do almost anything that would 



4o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

help the Northern cause. Naturally this great power 
would be curtailed when the armed conflict was closed. 
Some claimed, therefore, that emancipation could last 
only during the period of actual warfare. To seal it for 
all time, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States was adopted in 1865, abolishing 
slavery throughout the United States. 

The Effect of Emancipation Abroad. — Emancipation gave 
a new aspect to the war. It stamped it as a war of freedom 
against bondage. All along, the Northern cause had been 
viewed with hostility and derision by the aristocracies and 
upper classes of Europe. It is estimated that " four fifths 
of the British House of Lords and most members of the 
House of Commons " were in sympathy with the South and 
anxious to see the Union broken up as a " republican fail- 
ure." Only a few great English leaders, like John Bright, 
ardently gave their hearts to Lincoln and the North. 

With the EngUsh common people it was different. Al- 
though driven to the verge of starvation by the closing of the 
cotton mills, they felt that the North was right and should 
triumph. After emancipation they were even more fixed 
in this view, and their anti-slavery sentiment was largely 
responsible for blocking intervention by the British govern- 
ment in favor of the Confederacy. More than once the 
French emperor, Napoleon III, had suggested interference 
in America, but the British authorities postponed action. 
Napoleon then had the effrontery to suggest it directly to 
the government at Washington, only to be instantly re- 
buffed. He realized that he could not accomplish the result 
alone, and, when British cooperation was not forthcoming, 
he gave up trying to aid the South in destroying the 
Union. 

Lincoln. — Never had mortal man greater burdens to 
carry or more trying problems to solve than Lincoln. He 



THE CIVIL WAR 



407 





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Abraham Lincoln 
From a photograph of Borglum'5 statue of Abraham Lincoln in Newark. 



4o8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

had behind him a divided country. Thousands of North- 
ern people, in open sympathy with the South, did every- 
thing they could to hamper the raising of men and money 
and the successful prosecution of the war. Another large 
group, though loyal to the Union, was horrified by the dis- 
asters and the misery of war and ready on every occasion 
to urge peace at any price. So strong was the opposition 
that the Democrats, in 1864, with General McClellan as their 
candidate for President, were able to poll in the Union 
states alone 1,800,000 votes, although " the Great Emanci- 
pator " was reelected by a safe majority. 

Republican pohticians nearly drove Lincoln frantic in 
their efforts to get " jobs " in the government for their 
constituents. Democrats accused him of prolonging the 
war in order to satisfy the munition makers and con- 
tractors who made profits out of supplies. Friends of 
army officers daily besieged him for promotions and 
favors. Mothers and fathers whose sons were sentenced 
to be shot for desertion or neglect of duty beset him at 
every turn with petitions for pardon. With simplicity of 
heart, toleration, infinite patience, and good nature, he en- 
dured it all, trying always to do the right as it was given 
him to see it. 

V. The War on Water 

The Control of the Sea the Key to Union Success. — The 
chief reliance of the South before the war was, as we have 
said, on its cotton. In i860 Southern plantations pro- 
duced 4,700,000 bales of cotton, a very large portion of which 
was sold in England. If the seas could have been kept 
open and the millions of bales exchanged for munitions 
and other supplies, the power of the South would have 
been more than doubled. In view of the fact that the 
conflict was waged on Southern soil and that the men 



THE CIVIL WAR 



409 



and equipment of the Union army had to be transported 
far from the Northern bases, it is certain that the South, 
if adequately supported by guns, food, and money, could 
have made the conflict infinitely more desperate, perhaps 
so desperate that the outcome would have been far diff"erent. 
Weakness of the Navy at the Outset of the War. — It was 
in cutting the sources of Southern supplies that the navy 
of the United States did its great work, and if it had been 
stronger at the outbreak of the war it might have reduced 
the struggle by many months. It is estimated that there 
were only about thirteen vessels, 
eight steamships, and five sailing 
ships, ready for service in American 
waters when war began. There 
were other American ships abroad, 
which were recalled. The entire 
navy, however, including even 



vessels 




repairs, and those condemned as 
obsolete, numbered only ninety 
ships in all. 



The Blockade of the Southern Coast to Cut Off Trade between 
Europe and the South 

The Blockade. — With this mere handful of vessels Presi- 
dent Lincoln determined to cut oflP all trade between Europe 



410 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

and the South. Early in 1861 he declared the coast from 
Virginia all the way to Texas blockaded ; and he ordered 
warships scattered along this stretch of seashore, particu- 
larly at seaports, for the purpose of stopping and capturing 
all ships that attempted to go in or out of Southern 
harbors, whether they were Confederate ships or English 
ships or those of any other foreign country. 

The '^ Blockade Runners.''^ — At first much cotton was 
smuggled out through the blockade and great supplies 
of munitions were smuggled in. In England and in 
the South many swift steamships, called " blockade run- 
ners," were built for the purpose of eluding the United 
States warships stationed oflF the coasts. On dark nights 
or when storms were raging, these " runners," heavily laden 
with cotton or supplies, would dash into or out of the closed 
ports, escaping the warships sent to capture them. As the 
Union navy increased in size, the net drawn around the 
Southern seacoast grew tighter and tighter, until at last 
the " blockade runners " took such desperate chances that 
the business ceased to be profitable. 

Success of the Blockade. — It is estimated that during the 
blockade more than 15,000 ships were captured. In the 
closing year of the war the South was able, to deliver 
only a few thousand bales in foreign markets. War sup- 
plies from abroad were practically cut off, and it was 
impossible to borrow more money abroad. For instance, 
in 1863 the Southern government negotiated a loan of 
^150,000,000 abroad, agreeing to redeem the bonds in 
cotton, but it could not deliver the cotton. 

Even if money could have been procured in sufficient 
quantities abroad, it would have done the South little 
good, because it needed not gold and silver but the suppHes 
which gold and silver could buy. As a Southern leader 
said, the South was not defeated but " choked to death." 



THE CIVIL WAR 411 

The work of the blockaders out at sea did not excite much 
attention in the country. There were no opportunities to 
make great naval heroes out of those watchers, but they 
kept at their posts day and night, winter and summer, in 
stormy and pleasant weather. Upon the ceaseless vigilance 
of the sailors, as well as the valor of the soldiers, the success 
of the North depended. 

Attacks on Northern Commerce. — Although blockaded, the 
South was able to keep a few warships and privateers at 
sea, preying on Northern commerce. At the outbreak of 
the war, American merchant vessels were trading with 
every port in the world, and as the war went on, of course 
this trade increased. Seeing its own commerce destroyed, 
the South sought to capture and burn Northern merchant- 
men wherever they could be found. One of the Southern 
destroyers escaped from the mouth of the Mississippi in the 
summer of 1861, and managed to spread ruin at sea for 
several months. In the pursuit and capture or destruction 
of these ships. Northern cruisers had to fight many battles. 

The Alabama. — Other sea rovers were built and equipped 
in English ports with the connivance or toleration of 
the English government in violation of international law. 
One of these, the Alabama, was built at Liverpool, and for 
two years cruised the ocean, destroying two or three mer- 
chant vessels every month. She was at last caught, in 
June, 1864, and sent to the bottom of the EngHsh Channel 
by the warship Kearsarge. England, as we shall see, was 
compelled to pay heavily for some of the losses inflicted on 
American ships by the raiders fitted out in her ports. ^ 

1 In 1 861 a Union vessel overhauled the British ship Trent and seized two com- 
missioners of the Confederate government, Mason and Slidell, who were bound 
for England. This high-handed action, which savored of British conduct before 
the War of 1812, was the subject of a vigorous protest on the part of Great Bntam. 
The government at Washington promptly acknowledged that it was in the wrong 
and permitted the two commissioners to proceed to England. Thus the "Trent 
Affair" was settled. 



412 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



The Merrimac and the Monitor (1862). — In addition to 
blockading the coast and capturing ships-preying on Northern 
commerce, the navy of the United States had to meet a 
new kind of foe. The Confederates in Portsmouth, Vir- 
ginia, transformed a steamer known as the Merrimac into 
an ironclad ram which played havoc with the old wooden 
warships, such as the Cumberland and the Congress. Unless 
a new type of ship could be devised this iron monster and 




Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, the FmsT Battle 
BETWEEN Iron-Clad Ships 



Others like it might sweep the blockading ships from the 
seas. 

Northern ingenuity was equal to Southern skill. Captain 
John Ericsson designed and built at New York his famous 
Monitor. This curious vessel had a small iron hull, and on 
top of the deck was built a round iron turret, carrying two 
guns, which could be revolved by machinery and so 
fired in any direction. The Southerners called the boat " a 
Yankee cheese box on a raft." She was taken down to 
Hampton Roads in the spring of 1862, just when the Mer- 
rimac had started on a career of destruction. 

On the morning of March 9, the two ironclads fought 



THE CIVIL WAR 41 3 

a desperate battle without coming to a final decision. 
Blinded temporarily by a shell which struck his watch 
tower, the commander of the Monitor withdrew his ship 
from the fight and the Merrimac steamed back to Norfolk. 
The Confederates regarded the outcome as a victory, but 
the career of the Merrimac as a commerce destroyer was 
soon at an end, for the ship was burned when the Con- 
federates evacuated Norfolk a few weeks later. Addi- 
tional monitors were built for the Northern navy and 
proved their usefulness. 

Gunboats on Western Rivers. — Other important ser- 
vices rendered by the navy included the destruction of 
Fort Henry on the Tennessee by Commodore Foote ; the 
capture of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut ; the cooper- 
ation of Admiral Farragut and Admiral Porter in the open- 
ing of the Mississippi River ; and the seizure of several forts 
and posts along the coast. 



VI. The Campaigns of 1863 

New Disasters in the East. Chancellor sville. — After 
the Proclamation of Emancipation, the war in the East 
and the West entered upon new and important phases. 
In the East, the Union armies were still unfortunate. In 
May, 1863, General Hooker was attacked at Chancellors- 
ville and badly beaten by General Lee. The only bitter- 
ness in the Confederate cup of joy was the loss of Stonewall 
Jackson, who was wounded in the battle and died shortly 
afterward. The North was sick at heart when, in spite of 
the strict military censorship, the news of the defeat slowly 
filtered through. Lincoln was on the verge of despair. 

Lee Invades the North. — Then came the great ter- 
ror — invasion. After the victory at Chancellorsville, 
the Confederate government, with high confidence, de- 



414 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



termined to win the war by a bold stroke. It sent Lee, 
at the head of a powerful army of disciplined men, 
down the Shenandoah Valley, across the Potomac, into 
Pennsylvania. Jefferson Davis had threatened to carry 
the war into the very heart of the North ; now he was ful- 
fiUing his threat. By the end of June, Lee's advance guard 
was only four miles from Harrisburg, the capital of Penn- 




General Lee on His Famous Horse, Traveler 



sylvania, well within the rear of Baltimore and Wash- 
ington. In Philadelphia business was paralyzed and hur- 
ried preparations were made for the defense of the city. 
All the North trembled with anxiety. Lincoln, beset by 
urgent appeals from every section, reHeved General Hooker, 
who had lost Chancellorsville, and placed in command Gen- 
eral Meade, who had served with courage and distinction in 
Potomac campaigns. 

Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. — On July i, the opposing armies 
stood face to face at the little village of Gettysburg, Lee with 
70,000 men and Meade with 90,000. For three long days 
they fought. On the first and second days the balance 
seemed to incline to the Southern side. 



THE CIVIL WAR 415 

Picketfs Famous Charge. — Convinced that victory was 
within his grasp, Lee, on the afternoon of the third day, 
ordered a grand advance. Under a Blue sky, with a 
July sun beating down upon them in full splendor, 
Pickett's troops, fifteen thousand strong, chosen for the 
work, rose majestically over the crest behind which they 
were posted, descended the slopes, and in clear view of 
the enemy swung to the attack across the valley. Far in 
front on Cemetery Ridge the Union soldiers lay quietly 
awaiting the coming storm, while the cannon behind poured 
a sweeping hail of shell and canister into Pickett's men, 
cutting them down like grain before a sickle. On they 
came. In a little while sheets of flame leaped from Union 
rifles, adding to the havoc wrought by the artillery. Still 
they came, closing up their thinning ranks, until with one 
mighty rush the men in front were flung high upon the 
Union ramparts, as the spray is dashed upon a rockbound 
coast when a wave breaks. For a brief instant the Stars 
and Bars were planted in the heart of the enemy by Pickett's 
men, but they could not hold. Assaulted on every side, 
they broke, and the shattered remnants of the proud com- 
mand were driven back upon their old lines. 

The Victory. — The day was done. Nearly forty thousand 
men lay dead or wounded. The " high tide of the war " had 
touched the Northern fields and set out to sea never to return. 
Nothing was left for Lee but retreat, and had Meade been 
able to seize the opportunity to press the Southern forces to 
the utmost, he might have ended the war. But his own 
army was worn out and he delayed. Lincoln was sorely dis- 
appointed, and yet he was grateful to Meade for the work 
he had done. The North now turned again to the un- 
finished task, taking from the honored dead who fell at 
Gettysburg, " increased devotion to that cause for which 
they gave the last full measure of devotion.'' 



41 6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Vicksburg Surrendered. The Mississippi Opeyi to the 
Sea. — While the North was rejoicing over the glorious 
victory at Gettysburg, the news of another Union triumph, 
the fall of Vicksburg on the Mississippi, was announced. 
On July 4 — "the best Fourth since 1776," as General 



/ ' 




Life in Cellars and Caves during the Siege of Vicksburg 



Sherman wrote — the Confederate commander at that post. 
General Pemberton, was forced to surrender to General 
Grant, after a memorable siege. 

The suffering in the beleaguered city had been horrible 
beyond measure. For weeks the inhabitants had lived in 
cellars and caves. Their food supply had steadily dimin- 
ished until they were driven to the necessity of eating the 
flesh of horses and mules. Day and night were hideous 
with the thunder of artillery and the noise of bursting 
shells and exploding mines. The " brazen glories of war" 
were submerged in misery, starvation, filth, and loathsome 



THE CIVIL WAR 



417 



horror. The Confederate general was simply forced to 
surrender by the distress of the soldiers and the people. 

A few days after the 
surrender of Vicksburg, 
Port Hudson, below 
Vicksburg, was yielded 
to the Union forces, 
and the Confederacy, 
thanks to the coopera- 
tion of the federal army 
and gun boats, was cut 
in twain. On July 16 
a steamer from St. 
Louis landed a cargo 
at New Orleans, and 
as Lincoln phrased it, 
"the Father of Waters 
again goes unvexed to 
the sea." 

Chickamauga and 
Chattanooga. — After 
Gettysburg and Vicks- 
burg the federal gov- 
ernment urged General 
Rosecrans to begin a 
drive on the Confederates in Tennessee. He started 
out with great promise. Then, on September 19, 1863, 
he was attacked by strong Southern forces under Gen- 
eral Bragg, and the following day " the great battle of 
the West," the terrible and bloody Chickamauga, was 
fought. Rosecrans was defeated and his own wing driven 
back to Chattanooga in a rout. Nothing but the des- 
perate courage of General Thomas and his men on 
another wing prevented a complete disaster to the Union 

2E 




Fakragut Commanding from the Rigging 
OF His Flagship, Hartford, at the Open- 
ing OF THE Mississippi 



4i8 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



arms. General Grant was then placed in complete charge 
in that section. 

In a few weeks followed battles at Lookout Mountain — 
"above the clouds," — and Missionary Ridge, near Chatta- 
nooga, which resulted in driving the Confederate forces out 
of Tennessee into northern Georgia. By the end of 1863 the 
battle Kne had been forced down into Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Georgia. 




General Grant and His Officers. Grant in the Foreground Examin- 
ing A Map over General Meade's Shoulder 



VII. The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865; the End of 

THE War 

Grant Placed in Command of All Union Armies (1864). — 
Only two important Confederate armies remained, one un- 
der General Lee defending Richmond, and the other in the 



THE CIVIL WAR 



419 



northern part of Georgia under General Joseph E. Johnston. 
Early in the spring of the following year (1864), General 
Grant was called from the West, and made Lieutenant- 
general of all the armies of the United States, with orders 
to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and 
destroy Lee's army of Virginia. In the West, General 
Sherman was instructed to attack General Johnston and 
drive his way through Georgia. 




Sherman's March to the Sea 



Sherman's Campaign. Atlanta and the March to the Sea. 
— Starting from Chattanooga, General Sherman set out 
on his famous expedition. The Confederate general slowly 
retired, with a view to wearing Sherman's army out and 
attacking it later when the odds against him were 
not so great. President Davis, annoyed at Johnston for his 
delays, removed him, and placed General Hood in charge, 
with orders to attack Sherman. This was a fatal^error, for 
Sherman beat off General Hood's heroic assaults at Atlanta, 



420 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

and with a large division of his army started on the famous 
march " from Atlanta to the sea," destroying bridges and 
railroads and property along a belt sixty miles wide. On 
Christmas Eve, 1864, President Lincoln, with great delight, 
received a telegram from General Sherman presenting him 
as a " Christmas gift the City of Savannah with one hun- 
dred fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition ; also about 
25,000 bales of cotton." Some of the Union soldiers, on 
the march to the sea, needlessly pillaged residences and 
wrecked public and private buildings, creating a very bitter 
feeling in the hearts of the Southern people. 

Grant in Virginia. The Wilderness and Cold Harbor. — 
Meanwhile General Grant had been doggedly wrestling 
with the task assigned to him. Although Lee's Army of 
Virginia was only about half the size of his own forces. 
General Grant had no easy problem before him. He was 
fighting in the enemy's country; Lee's troops were familiar 
with every highway and byway, and were strongly in- 
trenched at important points. 

Realizing the gravity of the situation. Grant, in May, 
1864, crossed the Rapidan River and began to make his way 
through forests thickset with underbrush. Here he was 
severely attacked by the Southern army, and for four d^ys 
the terrible battle of " the Wilderness " raged. The 
Union losses were frightful, but Grant managed to with- 
draw his forces. By a skillful march to the left, he pushed 
on to Spottsylvania Court House, and then down to Cold 
Harbor which was a part of the defenses of the City of 
Richmond. Here the desperate fighting went on without 
any marked gains for the Northern army. In the month's 
struggle from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, Lee lost 
19,000 men and Grant nearly three times as many. 

General Grant believed that victory would come with the 
wearing down of the Southern army. He had twice as 



THE CIVIL WAR 421 

many men as the Confederates, he had unhmited supphes 
behind him, and he knew that he could win in time, even 
if at a great cost. General Lee's losses were evidently heavy ; 
and he could ill afford them, because the Confederacy behind 
him was exhausted and could not furnish more troops. The 
blockade was growing tighter every day. The end seemed to 
be only a matter of time. 

Early's Raid Checked by Sheridan. — Remembering 
that he had beaten off the Army of the Potomac two years 
before by threatening Washington, Lee ordered General 
Early with a large force to march rapidly through the 
Shenandoah Valley and to attack the capital. General 
Grant, fortunately, had troops to spare. Instead of 
giving up his attack on Lee's main army, he sent a division 
under General Sheridan to cope with Early. Sheridan de- 
feated Early at the battle of Winchester, and swooped down 
the valley, destroying everything in front of him until, as 
it was said at the time, a crow passing over the region had 
to carry his rations with him. 

The news of General Early's defeat at Winchester on 
October 18, 1864, was received with great satisfaction by 
General Grant, for he knew now that the Confederacy had 
struck its last dangerous blow. With General Sherman 
in possession of Savannah and all of the Southwest cut 
off by him, no supplies could reach Lee from that 
quarter; it was inevitable that the Army of Virginia must 
soon surrender. Being in a desperate plight, the leaders of 
the Confederacy tried to make terms with President Lincoln. 
In November, 1864, Vice President Stephens met President 
Lincoln and Seward, the Secretary of State, on board a war- 
ship in Hampton Roads to discuss terms of peace. Lincoln 
called for the disbanding of the Southern armies, the 
submission of the seceded States to the Union, and the 
abolition of slavery. Rather than make these concessions. 



422 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the Confederate government decided to go on with the 
war. 

Lee Surrenders at Appomattox (April 9, 1865). — The 
North then prepared for the final blow, and General Grant 
began to close in on the Southern troops around Richmond. 
On April 3, 1865, Lee, having come to the conclusion that 
he could no longer safely defend the capital of the Con- 
federacy, withdrew in a southwesterly direction. On April 
9, General Grant overtook him at Appomattox Court House 
and compelled him to surrender unconditionally. In his 
hour of triumph, Grant was generous to the vanquished. 
He did not require Lee to surrender his sword, and he per- 
mitted the officers and men to keep their horses, because, 
as he said, they would need them in their farm work. After 
the Confederate officers and men had given their word 
not to take up arms against the United States again, they 
were given a goodly supply of rations and allowed to go 
home. A few days later, the other important Southern 
army under General Johnston surrendered to General Sher- 
man in North Carolina. The war was over. 

The Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865). — It may 
well be imagined with what joy the news of Lee's surrender 
was received throughout the United States. The long war 
was at an end ; the country, torn by hatred and distracted by 
sorrow for so many weary years, could be at peace. The 
Union was preserved. Instead of two nations side by 
side, armed to the teeth and enemies at heart, there was 
one government. With thanksgiving, the great President 
turned to the task of reuniting the broken and embittered 
peoples ; but fate had decreed that the work of restoration 
should be left to other hands. On the evening of April 14, 
1865, Lincoln, while sitting in his box at the Ford Theatre 
in Washington, was shot by John Wilkes Booth, an 
actor, who was half-crazed by the defeat of the South. The 



THE CIVIL WAR 



423 



President, mortally wounded, was carried across the street 
to a private house, where, amid his sorrowing family and 
official friends, he died in the early hours of the next 
morning. 

Like wildfire the news of the tragedy spread across the 
continent, and the greatest sorrow of the war fell like a 
pall over the land. It seemed too much to bear. Thou- 
sands of brave men and women had sacrificed and suf- 
fered in the dragging days and years of the war, and 




Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was Shot on April 14, 1865 

now, in the hour when peace had come, the brave Cap- 
tain, as the poet Whitman wrote, had " fallen cold and 
dead." The North had lost its trusted leader, and the 
South a friend who bore no malice or bitterness in his 
heart. 

Vin. The Cost of the War; Women and the War 

Money and Property. — Just what the war cost in men and 
money cannot be reckoned exactly. The national debt in 



424 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the summer of 1865 was nearly three bilHon dollars, most of 
which had been incurred for war purposes. To this must 
be added the expenditures of the national government out 
of national taxes, the money spent by Northern states, 
cities, and towns, the interest on the debt, and pensions. 
It has been estimated that the war expenditures of the 
government for all these purposes, between July i, 1861, 
and June 30, 1879, amounted to more than six billion dol- 
lars. In addition we must include the millions that have 
been paid and are still being paid in pensions. 

The debt of the Confederate government, on the other 
hand, was repudiated and never paid. Enormous expendi- 
tures amounting to hundreds of millions were made, and 
property of still greater value was destroyed by invading 
armies. It would be a safe guess that the total cost of the 
Civil War in money spent, property destroyed, and wages of 
men lost, was well over twenty-five billion dollars, a sum 
equal to more than fifty times the value of all the property 
in the United States when Washington was inaugurated 
President. 

Human Life. — In human life the cost of the war is still 
more difficult to estimate. During the conflict, about 
2,000,000 men joined the Northern armies for varying serv- 
ices — ^ three months, six months, a year or more. The 
number in actual service reached its highest point in April, 
1865, when it stood at slightly more than one million. Of 
this great host more than 360,000 lost their lives — 110,000 
perished on the battlefield, and about 250,000 died of 
wounds and diseases. The records of the Confederate 
armies were not well kept. It is impossible to state even 
with fair accuracy their losses, but if they were equal to 
those of the Northern armies the Civil War cost outright 
in human life 700,000 men. This leaves out of account 
the crippled and permanently disabled, and those whose 



THE CIVIL WAR 425 

lives were shortened many years by the hardships of the 
camp and battle field. 

Women and the War. — In recording the heroic deeds 
and splendid sacrifices of men on the field of battle, the 
services of the women of America in the conduct of the 
war must not be forgotten. All through the farming re- 
gions of the Northwest and to some extent in other sec- 
tions, women took up the lines and plow handles where 
the men dropped them and for four years assumed responsi- 
bility for producing the crops. 

A few days after Sumter was fired upon, the leading women 
of New York met at Cooper Union, under the inspiration of 
Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, and organized a relief associa- 
tion. This led to the establishment of the marvelous United 
States Sanitary Commission, which collected food and sup- 
plies for the soldiers, looked after the health of camps, and 
aided in the care of the sick and wounded. Through sani- 
tary fairs held from the Atlantic to the Pacific, women 
raised nearly $3,000,000 for relief. 

Speaking of their work, Lincoln said : 

I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women ; 
but I must say, that if all that has been said by orators and poets 
since the creation of the world were applied to the women of 
America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this 
war. 

Thousands of women went to the front as nurses, endur- 
ing the horrors and hardships of camp life and battle field. 
Volumes could be written of their valorous deeds — gather- 
ing the wounded amid the storm of battle, serving at 
plague-stricken posts. They were among the staffs of scouts 
and spies, in prisons, on the transport ships, wherever suffer- 
ing and human needs were to be found. Back of the battle 
lines, women knitted, scraped lint, rolled bandages, and 



426 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



prepared comforts and necessities for the soldiers. In 
nearly every community there were soldiers' aid societies 
which held weekly and even daily meetings to raise money, 

supplies, and comforts for 
the men at the front. 

In the South, burdens 
borne by the women were 
even heavier. There a 
larger proportion of the 
white men were in the field 
and the responsibilities of 
the women were all the 
greater. They experienced 
the horrors of war all about 
them : fields laid waste, 
homes burned, supplies de- 
stroyed, hostile soldiers on 
every hand, starvation and misery daily, hourly staring 
them in the face ; and yet they failed not. Southern 
writings are justly filled with tributes to the women for 
their bravery and their work. 




An Army Nurse of i86i 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What is meant by a *' civil" war? Look up the mean- 
ing of "secession." At what earlier periods in the country's his- 
tory had certain of the states threatened to ''secede" ? 2. Why 
were some of the influential men of the North opposed to the use 
of force in bringing the seceded states back into the Union .? 

3. Can you think of any reasons why President Buchanan 
should have decided to take no strong measures to prevent the 
secession of South Carolina ? (Remember that South Carolina 
seceded in December, i860, while Buchanan was still president.) 

4. In what important ways did the Confederate States of 
America difl^er from the original union formed in 1789 .? 

II. I. Compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of 



THE CIVIL WAR 427 

the North and the South in 1861 in carrying on a successful war. 

2. What and where were the ''Border States"? Why did the 
North make an especially determined effort to keep these in the 
Union ? With what results ? (Study carefully on a map the loca- 
tion of these Border States; note how they formed a "buffer" 
between the free states and the seceded states.) Why should the 
North have been particularly anxious lest Maryland should go with 
the South ? What especial disadvantage would the North have 
suffered if Missouri had seceded ? 

III. I. Locate Manassas Junction in Virginia (near here the 
Battle of Bull Run was fought). Note the direction of the rail- 
roads that joined at Manassas. Why should the Confederate 
army have chosen this as the point at which to make a stand 
against Northern invasion ? 2. McClellan was severely criti- 
cized in the North for delaying so long in moving his army 
toward Richmond. Why were the Northerners especially ir- 
ritated at this delay .? Can you think of any reasons that 
may have caused McClellan to delay in spite of criticism .? 

3. What was Lee's object in attempting to invade the North 
in 1862.? What was the result of this attempt.? 4. From a 
study of the map, tell why the capture of Forts Henry and 
Donelson was so important to the Union cause. What would 
be the advantage to the Union army of controlling the Tennessee 
and Cumberland rivers ^ 5. Why was the contest for Missouri 
and Arkansas important .? 6. Why was New Orleans an espe- 
cially important city for the Union forces to occupy .? 

IV. I. What were Lincoln's objects in emancipating the 
slaves held in the seceded states } 2. Why was this not the 
same as the "abolition" of slavery .? 3. What were some of the 
great difficulties that Lincoln had to meet in guiding the Nation 
through the war .? 

V. I. What was the object of the Union in blockading the 
Southern ports ^ From a study of the coastline of the Southern 
States point out the difficulties that lay in the way of this policy, 
and also the conditions that favored the Union navy in carrying 
out the plan successfully. 2. What was the purpose of the 
Confederacy in fitting out ships like the Alabama? 3. Locate 
Hampton Roads. Why was it particularly important to the 
North to control the entrance to Chesapeake Bay .? Why was 
the battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor important .? 



428 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

VI. I. What was Lee's object in his second invasion of the 
North (1863) ? His most advanced outposts reached the banks 
of the Susquehanna opposite Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; locate 
on the map. 2. Who was appointed to check Lee's invasion ? 
Locate Gettysburg on the map. Why is Gettysburg called the 
"high-water mark of the Confederacy" .? Why is the Battle of 
Gettysburg listed among the ''decisive" battles of the world's his- 
tory .? 3. Locate Vicksburg and tell why its capture was so im- 
portant to the Union cause. 

VII. I. Describe Grant's plan of campaign for 1864. What 
were the important differences between Grant's methods and 
those of his predecessors in charge of the Union armies } 
2. Trace on the map (p. 398) the course of Grant's movements 
against Lee in Virginia. Note the general direction of these 
movements and the points where the successive battles (the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor) were 
fought. Why has Grant's campaign been called a ''great flanking 
movement" } 3. What did Lee hope to accomplish by Early's 
raid .? Why did his plans fail .? 4. Locate the point where Lee 
surrendered. In view of the fact that Richmond had already 
fallen into the hands of the Unionists, where, in your opinion, 
was Lee trying to go when he was forced to surrender .? 

VIII. I. Name the important results of the war. Comparing 
the results with the cost of the war in money, in human life, and in 
the suffering caused, would you say that the good accomplished 
was worth the sacrifice .? Give reasons for your answer. 2. De- 
scribe the services rendered by women during the war. 



Problems for Further Study 

I. Select one of the following topics for study and report : 

The Battle of Bull Run: See Hart's "Romance of the Civil 
War," pp. 287-291 ; Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 225- 
230. 

The Merrimac and the Monitor: See Hart's "Romance of the 
Civil War," pp. 357-358; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales 
from American History," pp. 185-195. 

The Gettysburg Campaign: See Elson's "Side-Lights on 
American History," vol. ii, ch. v; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 
323-327; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American 



THE CIVIL WAR 429 

History," pp. 227-236; Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 372- 

378. 

Lee's Surrender at Appomattox: See Hart's "Source Book," 
pp. 329-333; Oilman's "Robert E. Lee," ch. xix; Coombs's 
"Ulysses S. Grant," ch. xix; Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 

509-515. 

2. Select one or more of the following leaders of the Civil War 

period for study and report : 

Ulysses S. Grant: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Coun- 
try," Book II, pp. 217-228; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," 
pp. 179-183 (account of Grant as a cadet at West Point) ; Roose- 
velt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History,'' pp. 239- 
248 (account of the Vicksburg campaign); Nicolay's "Abraham 
Lincoln," pp. 264-269 (Grant at Fort Donelson) ; Coombs's 
" Ulysses S. Grant." 

Robert E. Lee: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country, 
Book II, pp. 229-237; Oilman's "Robert E. Lee." 

"Stonewall" Jackson: See Hart's "Romance of the Civil 
War," pp. 266-269; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from 
American History," pp. 213-223. ,,^., , . r^ r- 

David G. Farragut : See Southworth's Builders of Our Coun- 
try," Book II, pp. 238-248; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales 
from American History," pp. 303-322; Hart's "Source Book, 
pn ^13-315; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War, pp. 362-366. 

3. Tell the story of Clara Barton as illustrating the services 
rendered by women as Civil War nurses. ^ 

See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country, Book n, pp. 
2^2-2^5 ; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 416-418. 

4. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why Lincoln 
is looked upon as one of the great figures of history. 

See Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," ch. xxvni ; Roosevelt and 
Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," PP- ^324-335; 
Hart's "Source Book," pp. 333-335; ^outhworths Builders 
of Our Country," Book II, pp. 206-216; Elson s Side-Lights 
on American History," vol. n, pp. 181-182. 



CHAPTER XXII 
RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 

I. Problems of Reconstruction 

The Freedmen. — Though bowed by the sorrows of the 
Lincoln tragedy, the people of the North rejoiced that at 
last the specter of slavery had been laid. They turned to 
their accustomed work in fields and factories as if every- 
thing was settled. The more thoughtful in both sections, 
however, knew that it was one thing to break the chains of 
the slaves and a far more perplexing thing to find for them 
a proper place among citizens of the country. 

Millions of farm " hands " who had been bought and sold 
and who had been absolutely at the beck and call of their 
masters, were now freemen, at liberty to go where they 
pleased. This was a strange condition of affairs. It had 
come suddenly, — without warning or preparation. There 
they stood, poor people, with empty hands and untrained 
minds, helpless in a world which they did not understand, 
at a loss which way to turn. The federal government hav- 
ing abolished slavery, could not ignore the fate of the freed- 
man. 

The Conquered States. — That was not all. What was to be 
done with the former Confederate states, and with the leaders 
of the Confederacy ? Should those who had just been in arms 
against the authority of the nation be restored at once» to 
their old powers and rights as citizens and voters ^ On 
these questions there was great difference of opinion. 

430 



RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 431 

I. Lincoln had taken a generous view. He held that 
the Confederate states had never been out of the Union 
in fact ; that they had merely attempted to withdraw and 
had failed. He thought, therefore, that they should resume 
their proper places as quickly and as peaceably as possible. 










--^"^ . ^J-:<> '.•?i^. '-^,^ --^ ■ ^_^. 



^•§|;t^4. 



The Southern Soldier and His Home after the War 

When the Northern armies began to occupy seceded states, 
he proposed that just as soon as one tenth of the voters in 
each state would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, they 
should be permitted to reorganize the state government 
for themselves. If Lincoln had lived, it might have been 
possible to settle the troublesome matter this way ; but his 
untimely death put the work of "reconstruction" into 
other hands. 

2. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, Charles Sumner, 
of Massachusetts, and other RepubHcan leaders were deter- 



432 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

mined that generosity should not mark the poHcy of the 
government toward the Confederate states. They said 
that the South had brought on the war and should be pun- 
ished for wrongdoing. In their view all the details of re- 
storing the Southern states were matters for the federal 
government to settle. The abolition of slavery throughout 
the country in 1865 by an amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States was, in their opinion, proof that the rela- 
tion of freedmen to their former masters was subject to na- 
tional, not state, control. When Congress met in December, 
1865, the Republican leaders refused to admit Senators and 
Representatives from the Southern states, and undertook 
to solve the problems of the South in their own way. 

The Fourteenth Amendment. — One of their first measures 
was a law establishing a Freedmen's Bureau, a division 
of the federal government with offices all through the South, 
through which aid was to be distributed to the negroes. A 
second important measure was another amendment to the 
federal Constitution — the Fourteenth — passed in 1866, rati- 
fied by the states, and proclaimed a law two years later. 

This amendment provided that all persons born or natu- 
rahzed in the United States were citizens. All question as 
to whether the freedmen were bona-fide American citizens 
was thus removed. The amendment also declared in effect 
that negroes should not be deprived by the states of their 
civil rights in any arbitrary or irregular fashion. It ex- 
cluded from Congress all men who had taken an oath to 
support the Constitution and then aided in the war 
against the United States, and it forbade the payment of 
any of the war debt incurred by the Confederate govern- 
ment or the seceded states. 

Negro Suffrage. — Another feature of the Fourteenth 
Amendment was the provision that, if any state excluded 
any adult males from the right to vote, its representa- 



RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 433 

tion in Congress should be reduced. This was designed 
indirectly to compel the granting of the suffrage to negro 
men in the South and in those Northern states, hke Ohio, 
which still withheld it. Clever Republican politicians 
favored this because it meant a huge increase in the vote 
cast for their party. Other Republicans urged it on dif- 
ferent grounds. Sumner, for example, pointed out that all 
negroes had been given the civil rights enjoyed by the 
whites, such as the right to go and come, and to buy and 
sell. Then he declared that the negroes' civil rights were 
not " worth a rush " without the right to vote for those 
who made the laws and enforced them, and that the suf- 
frage, therefore, should be conferred on the negro men. He 
left the women to take care of their civil rights as best they 
could. Under this amendment the federal government 
sought to force manhood suffrage, white and black, on the 
South. 

So drastic an amendment would not have secured the ap- 
proval of three fourths of the states if some of the South- 
ern States had not been forced to ratify it in order to get 
back into the Union. 

Military Rule in the South. — Congress then passed 
more drastic " Reconstruction acts " designed to settle the 
poHtical problems of the South. Under these acts all the 
seceded states, except Tennessee, were laid out into mili- 
tary districts, each governed by a military officer supported 
by troops. Under them also, governments were established 
in the several Southern states, and the right to vote was 
given to all men, white or black, over twenty-one years of 
age — except those who had taken part in the war against 
the Union. In other words, a few white men and the mass 
of new negro voters were authorized to set up governments 
and in the course of time to come back into the Union as 
regular states. By this arrangement, the states, one by one, 

2F 



434 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

were restored to their old position, until in 1870 they were 
all once more within the Union. 

The Impeachment of Johnson. — The various Re- 
construction acts were violently opposed by President 
Andrew Johnson, who, as Vice President, succeeded Lin- 
coln in 1865. Johnson was a native of Tennessee. He had 
been opposed to slavery, but he had not been in favor of 
giving the government of the Southern states over to the 
negroes. He vetoed, therefore, every important measure 
passed by Congress dealing with the Southern problems, 
and savagely attacked the members of Congress in his pub- 
lic addresses. The measures were passed over his veto ; 
and in February, 1868, the House of Representatives re- 
solved to impeach him for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution the 
trial took place before the Senate. After two months of 
wrangling the President was acquitted — by the narrow 
margin of one vote. 

n. Grant as President; the Rule of the "Carpet- 
baggers'' 

Grant Elected President. — Determined to have a Presi- 
dent thoroughly in accord with their views, the Republicans 
nominated and elected, in 1868 and again in 1872, General 
Grant, whose great military prowess and successful conclu- 
sion of the war had made him a national hero. 

The Fifteenth Amendment. — The RepubHcan leaders 
soon found that the Fourteenth Amendment, which 
threatened the Southern states with the reduction of 
their representation in Congress in case negroes were de- 
prived of the vote, was ineffective. In spite of the amend- 
ment and the Reconstruction acts. Southern white men kept 
negroes away from the polls whenever they could. The 



RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 



435 




Ulysses S. Grant 



Republicans thereupon decided to have a law which would 
guarantee the vote to negroes, and passed in 1869 the Fif- 
teenth Amendment, which declared in express terms that 
the states and government of the 
United States should never deprive 
any person of the right to vote on 
account of " race, color, or pre- 
vious condition of servitude." It 
was ratified by the states and pro- 
claimed a law in 1870. 

The Disastrous Rule of the 
" Carpet-baggers." — The action 
of the Republicans in placing 
Southern governments in the hands 
of former slaves and a few white 
men, who had not taken part in the Confederacy, did not 
solve the problems created by the war and emancipation. 
Men who could not read or write and who had never had a 
dollar before were elected to state legislatures to aid in re- 
storing order to the stricken land. Many self-sacrificing 
and conscientious people from the North went down to help 
in reconstruction. With them, unfortunately, went many 
rascals who were bent upon making money as fast as they 
could, and getting back North with their loot as soon as 
possible. These rascals were known as " carpet-baggers " 
because they were said to have brought nothing but carpet- 
bags (old-fashioned valises) with them. Negro leaders and 
carpet-baggers voted away great sums of money to rebuild 
the railways, bridges, and industries of the states. They 
also enriched themselves out of pubHc funds, incurring mil- 
lions of dollars of new debts ; and, shameful as it is to 
relate, many of them stole large sums from the public treas- 
uries, while bribing negro voters and legislators with petty 
payments. With the land laid waste and the state gov- 



436 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ernments weak and corrupt, the Southern cup of bitterness 
was full indeed. 

The Ku Klux Klan. — The white men, thus excluded from 
a share in their own government, decided to take the law 
into their own hands. Some of the more resolute formed 



iM 




Scene in New Orleans during the Rule of the Carpet-baggers 



secret societies — such as the famous Ku Klux Klan — for the 
purpose of restraining the negroes and keeping them away 
from the polls. Dressed in masks and long white robes, 
the clansmen rode about at night, warning carpet-baggers 
and their negro friends against interfering in matters of 
government. Sometimes they " tarred and feathered '' 



RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 437 

or drove away those whom they marked out as their en- 
emies. The country was aroused by reports of cruel deeds, 
and Congress passed more laws intended to protect the 
freedmen in their right to vote — but in vain. It was im- 
possible to stamp out the secret societies. They struck 
such terror into the hearts of the freedmen that thou- 
sands of them gave up all attempts to take part in 
elections. White rule, thus restored in the South by violence, 
was then sealed b}^ laws. 

Laws Depriving the Negro of the Ballot. — In the nineties 
state after state in the South enacted laws and constitu- 
tional amendments taking the ballot away from the ne- 
groes. Of course they could not say that negroes as such 
should not vote. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend- 
ments forbade that. They therefore hit upon a number of 
clever devices to the effect that no man should vote unless : 

(i) he had a certain amount of property; 

(2) or could read a section of the state constitution or 
explain it, when read to him, in such a way as to satisfy 
the election officers;^ 

(3) or had been a voter in 1867 or was the son or grandson 
of a person entitled to vote on or before 1867 — the famous 
" grandfather clause *' (declared void by the United States 
Supreme Court) ; 

(4) and had never been guilty of any crime such as wife 
beating, stealing, or obtaining money under false pretenses. 

It is easy to see how these schemes deprived the negroes 
of the ballot. Most of them had no property and therefore 
were disfranchised by the first provision mentioned above. 
If a negro was fortunate enough to have the required amount 
of property, he found it difficult to read a section of the state 
constitution or to explain it in a way that satisfied the white 

^ Some Northern states, Massachusetts and Connecticut for instance, have 
similar ** educational" tests for voters. 



438 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

election officers. At the same time these provisions did not 
disfranchise many white men. The poorest or most ignorant 
white man either could show that he or his father or grand- 
father voted on or before 1867 or could explain some clause of 
the constitution in a way that satisfied his white brethren. 
As a result of all these provisions the negroes were excluded 
from elections, especially in the states of the far South, and 
the dominion of white men was once more restored and 
made lawful. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. How had Lincoln planned to "reconstruct" the Southern 
states ^ Contrast his plans with those actually carried out by 
Congress. 2. Read the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth 
Amendments. (See Appendix, page 641.) Why were the Four- 
teenth and Fifteenth Amendments needed after the Thirteenth 
had beep adopted } 3. What were the important differences 
between President Johnson's attitude toward reconstruction and 
that of the leaders of his party in Congress .? 4. What is meant 
by "impeachment" .? Describe the method that is followed in 
impeaching an officer of the government (see Article I, Section 
III, of the Constitution). 

II. I. Describe the rule of the "carpet-baggers." In what 
ways did the Southerners oppose this rule .? In your opinion was 
this kind of opposition justified } 2. Why were the Ku Klux 
Klans organized ? What did they do .^ 3. In what ways did the 
South succeed in keeping the negroes from voting ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Find the important facts about the life of Andrew Johnson. 
What were the strong and weak points in his character ? In what 
ways was his life like Lincoln's and Andrew Jackson's .? How 
did he difi^er from each of these men .? 

See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," pp. 184- 
189. 

2. Charles Sumnerwas a prominent Northern leader in Congress 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 439 

during the war and the days of reconstruction. Find out some- 
thing about him. 

See Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 217-223; 
Elson's '* Side-Lights on American History," vol ii, pp. 58-62. 

3. The attempt of the federal government to force the South- 
erners to permit negro suffrage is considered by historians to have 
been a mistaken poHcy. Give as many reasons as you can for its 
failure. Think over and discuss in class the best ways for a vic- 
torious people to treat a defeated people. 

See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," ch. vii ; 
Hart's "Source Book," pp. 336-339, 342-351; Booker T. Wash- 
ington's *'Up from Slavery," ch. v; Du Bois, "The Soul of a 
Black Man." 

4. The Southern states are to-day frequently spoken of as the 
"Solid South." What does this term mean ? In what ways did 
the policy of the North in its attempts at reconstruction lead to a 
solid South ? 



Outline for Review of the Slavery Problem, the Civil 
War, and Reconstruction (Chapters XX, XXI, XXII) 

L Slavery becomes a national problem. 

J. Constitutional provisions regarding slavery. 

B. Abolition of slaves in the Northern states. 

C. The "balance of power" between the slave states and the 

free states. 

II. Events leading to the war between the states. 
J. The Missouri Compromise. 

B. The abolition movement and its leaders. • 

C. The development of cotton raising in the South. 

D. The Compromise of 1850. 

1. California admitted as a free state. 

2. The Fugitive-slave Law: the "Underground Rail- 

road." 

E. The Kansas-Nebraska Act. 

1. The Republican party organized. 

2. Border warfare in Kansas. 

F. The Dred Scott Decision. 



440 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

G. The Lincoln-Douglas debates. 
H. John Brown's Raid. 

III. The political situation on the eve of the Civil War. 
J. The tariff and homestead issues. 

B. The rise of Lincoln. 

C. The division in the Democratic party. 

D. The political campaign of i860: Lincoln elected. 

IV. The Civil War. 

A. The secession of seven Southern states and the organi- 

zation of the Confederate States of America. 

B. Divided opinion in the North : the proposed Crittenden 

Compromise. 

C. Lincoln's first inaugural. 

D. Fort Sumter surrendered. 

1. The North aroused. 

2. Four additional states join the Confederacy. 

E. Preparations for war : relative advantages of the North 

and the South. 

F. The campaigns of 1861 and 1862. 

1. Early Union reverses in the East. 

2. Union successes in the West. 

G. The Emancipation Proclamation. 
H. The war on the water. 

/. The campaigns of 1863. 

1. Renewed disasters in the East. 

2. The battle of Gettysburg. 

3. Vicksburg surrendered. 

4. The battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. 
/. The campaigns of 1864 and 1865. 

1. Grant in command of all Union armies. 

2. Sherman's march. 

3. Grant in Virginia. 

K. The assassination of Lincoln. 
L. The cost of the war. 
M. Women and the war. 

V. Reconstruction in the South. 

A. Problems of reconstruction. 

B. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 441 

C. Military rule in the South and its consequences. 

D. The struggle between President Johnson and Congress: 

the impeachment, trial, and acquittal of Johnson. 

E. The campaign of 1869 : Grant elected. 

F. The Fifteenth Amendment. 

G. The rule of the "carpet-baggers" : the Ku Klux Klan. 
H. Laws depriving the negro of the vote. 

Important names : 

Presidents: Taylor and Fillmore (1849-1853), Pierce (1853-1857), 
Buchanan (1857-1861), Lincoln (1861-1865), Lincoln and Johnson 
(1865-1869), Grant (1869-1877). 

Other Political Leaders: Davis, Douglas, Garrison, Fremont, 
Seward, Alexander H. Stephens, Greeley. 

Military and Naval Leaders: Grant, Lee, Sherman, McClellan, 
"Stonewall" Jackson, Sheridan, Johnston, Farragut, Meade, 
Hooker, Thomas, Early. 

Important dates : 1820; 1850; 1854; April 14, 1 861 ; January i, 
1863; July 1-3, 1863; April 9, 1865. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 

I. The South in Ruins at the Close of the War 

When the soldiers of the Northern armies returned 
victorious from the fields of battle, they found prosperous 
farms and busy factories awaiting their home coming. 







A Street in Richmond after the Close of the War 



When the soldiers of the Southern armies returned home, 
they found waiting for them such a task as had seldom 
confronted any people in all the history of the world. The 
scene can best be drawn in the language of a distinguished 
Georgian, Henry W. Grady : 

Let me picture to you, the foot-sore Confederate soldier as 
. . . he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 

44.2 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 443 

1865. . . . What does he find . . . when he reaches the home he 
left so prosperous and beautiful ? He finds his house in ruins, his 
farm devastated, his slaves free, his stock killed, his barn empty, 
his trade destroyed, his money worthless . . . his people without 
law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the burdens of others 
heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very traditions 
gone; without money, credit, employment, material training; 
and besides all this, confronted with the gravest problem that ever 
met human intelligence — the establishing of a status for the vast 
body of his liberated slaves. 

The Burdens of the Freedmen. — The condition of the 
former slaves was pitiable in the extreme. While the great 
war was being waged, the slaves generally remained on their 
masters' plantations and worked as faithfully in the fields 
as of old. For this devotion to their masters, Mr. Grady 
paid them this tribute : 

We remember with what fidelity for four years he guarded 
our defenseless women and children whose husbands and fathers 
were fighting against his freedom. To his credit be it said that 
whenever he struck a blow for his own liberty he fought in open 
battle, and when at last he raised his black and humble hands 
that the shackles might be struck off, those hands were innocent 
of wrong against his helpless charges and worthy to be taken in 
loving grasp by every man who honors loyalty and devotion. 

When the war was over and the former slaves realized 
that they were free, the majority of them knew not where 
to turn ; and as ancient habits of life could not be changed 
by a mere decree of law, they continued to live in their old 
cabins. Now, however, the cabins and lands belonged to 
their masters, and they had no right in them except as 
renters or wage workers. Of renting and wages they knew 
nothing. Ignorant of the fact that freedom did not mean 
idleness, many of them fondly imagined that they were 
to have a life of ease. In this they were encouraged by 
agitators, who told them that the government would give 



444 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

them cabins and lands, so that they could be their own 
masters and work or not as they liked. The cruel joke, 
which was widely circulated, only made matters worse, 
because it disheartened them all the more to be vainly 
waiting for the " free land " that was never given to them. 

Those of a more adventurous turn of mind left their old 
plantations and flocked to the towns in search of excite- 
ment or work. They wandered in .the highways and by- 
ways, nearly always begging, and often stealing. When 
they went into the towns they crowded of necessity into 
the meanest quarters, living in wretched huts and shanties 
where many died from fevers and other diseases. 

Starvation in Many Places. — So great was the distress in 
many places that the federal government was forced to 
open stores for the free distribution of food to the starving, 
and the state legislatures voted money to feed the poor. In 
the state of Georgia, where bad crops added to the misery 
of the people, 13,000 freedmen and 38,000 whites were 
given aid by the government in the single month of Sep- 
tember, 1866. 

II. The Development of Farming and Manufacturing 

The Reconstruction of the Planting System. Breaking 
up the Estates. — In the midst of all these discouragements, 
the people of the South began the work of restoration. 
The first big problem confronting former masters was how 
to get the land tilled. Finding it difficult to secure the 
stock and tools and to induce the negroes to work in the old 
way, they were often forced to break up their plantations 
into small farms. In i860 the average holding of land in 
the South was about 335 acres; by 1900 it was less than 
140 acres. 

The Development of the ^^ Renter " System. — Two systems 
of farming sprang up. One of them was the " cropper " or 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 445 

system. According to this plan the plantation 
owner laid out his estate in small plots and rented each 
plot to a negro family. As the family had no live stock, 
tools, or seeds, the owner advanced these on the under- 
standing that the renter would pay for them when the crops 
were sold. The family had nothing to live on until the 
crop was harvested, and it became necessary for the owner 



'"Wi' 




Threshing Rice on a Southern Plantation 

to advance money to buy food and clothes. Thus the 
renter or cropper was always, or nearly always, in debt to 
the owner before he began to work. In return for the use 
of land and tools, the land-owner was to receive a certain 
portion of the crop raised on the plot. As the negro was 
unable to read and write and to keep books, he could 
not tell how his accounts stood. As long as he was in debt, 
he and his entire family had to remain and till the fields of 
the owner. 

The Independent Negro Farmer. — Notwithstanding the 
heavy handicaps, many negroes did manage to accumu- 
late a few dollars and to start farming on their own land, 
or at least on land which they held under mortgage. By 
the year 1900 it was estimated from the census returns that 
there were nearly two hundred thousand small farms in the 



446 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

South owned by negro farmers either outright or under 
mortgage. At the same time more than half a milHon 
negro famihes were still working farms as croppers or renters 
on the share plan. 

Wage Labor on the Plantations and Farms. — The re- 
mainder of the negroes, who continued to live in the coun- 
try, were transformed into wage workers on the planta- 
tions and farms. Former owners or enterprising newcomers 
who bought up estates were often able to secure capital 
and engage in farming on a large scale. In such cases, the 
owners of the land hired negroes for daily wages to till 
the fields. The wages, even if all that the owner could 
afford to pay, were usually low, and negroes were frequently 
in debt to their employers on account of advances made for 
food and clothes. By this system the laborer was equally 
bound to the soil. He could not move away until his 
debts were paid, and often he could not manage to catch 
up with his debts, especially if there was sickness or acci- 
dent in his family. 

The Revival of the Cotton Trade. — In spite of all these 
obstacles, the farm produce of the South soon increased 
with great rapidity. By 1879 the output of cotton was 
about 5,000,000 bales, or equal to the output of i860 — the 
eve of the Civil War. By 1904 the cotton crop reached the 
startling figure of 13,700,000 bales. 

Agricultural Problems Remaining. — Nevertheless the 
gains of the Southern farms during the half century after 
the war did not compare favorably with the gains in other 
sections during the same period. This was due largely to the 
old-fashioned ways of those who tilled the soil. At the open- 
ing of the twentieth century, leaders in the South began 
to realize more seriously than ever that farming was a 
science; that untrained people, white or black, could not 
increase their crops as long as they clung to wasteful 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 



447 



methods ; and that laborers on the land must be educated 
for their work. 

The Industrial Revolution in the South. Cotton Manu- 
facturing. — The upbuilding of agriculture, important as 
it was, did not constitute the sole concern of the South. 
More and more attention was given to founding industries. 




Cotton Regions op the United States 

Before the war Southern leaders were the plantation owners, 
many of whom looked down upon what they called the 
" vulgar arts of trade." Anyway, the employment of 
slaves to manage complicated and expensive machinery 
was not thought practicable, and the white people were not 
eager to leave their farms to work in the mills. 

After the war, however, capitalists, often from the North, 
began to build cotton mills in the South, especially in the 
hill regions where there was coal or water power and where 
there was a supply of cheap white labor. In the forty years 
between i860 and 1900 the number of cotton spindles in the 
South multipHed more than twelvefold and the number of 



448 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

employees in the cotton mills more than tenfold. In 1905 
there were nearly 100,000 wage earners in the cotton mills 
of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

The Iron and Steel Industries. — Southern business 
activity was by no means confined to cotton manufac- 
turing. The South was rich in timber for shipbuilding, 
in pine forests producing tar and turpentine, in clays for 
tile and pottery, in marble quarries, in phosphate beds for 
fertilizers, and in coal and iron. Before i860 the South 
bought nearly all of her coal from Northern mines ; by the 
end of the century she was shipping coal abroad. Within 
twenty years after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, 
iron and steel manufacturers in Alabama and Tennessee 
began to push their outputs into markets all over the South 
and even into the North. In 1880 Alabama stood tenth 
among the pig-iron producing states; in 1890 it stood 
third. By 1910 the Southern states alone put out more 
coal and iron than all the Union did in 1870. Nashville, 
Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and Birmingham were 
then rivaling busy Northern cities in their manufacturing 
establishments and their trading concerns. Birmingham was 
a great coal and iron center — the Pittsburgh of the South. 
The percentage of increase in the number of wage earners 
of the south Atlantic states between 1904 and 1909 was 
greater than in New England or the middle Atlantic states. 

The Development of Transportation Facilities. — Natu- 
rally the building of railways kept pace with the growth of 
Southern industries. The railway system, which had been 
badly wrecked by invading troops, was all made over, 
partly with the help of the federal government. Through- 
out the whole South the mileage rose from 11,000 in 1870 
to 63,000 in 1910. The railways also helped to develop 
the industries. They created a demand for iron and wood 
products. They advertised the advantages of the South 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 449 

and invited Northern farmers to come down and help in 
the development of Southern resources. 

Transportation of cotton on the Mississippi River was 
greatly aided by the federal government, which estabhshed 
a River Commission in 1879, ^nd began to build a system 
of levees to keep the turbulent waters from overflowing 














Loading Cotton on Mississippi River Boats at New Orleans 



their banks and flooding the farms along the valley. The 
channel was dredged and straightened in many places, and 
by an ingenious system of dikes or " jetties " the mouth of 
the river was cleared and kept free from the mud which had 
hitherto hindered navigation. This was of great help to 
New Orleans, now growing into one of the important ship- 
ping ports of the world. 

With the opening of the Panama Canal, the Southern 
ports, especially Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston, looked 
forward to a rapid growth of their shipping enterprises. 

Changes in the Life of the People. Industrial Wage 
Workers. — The great revolution in industry and agricul- 



2G 



450 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ture deeply affected Southern life and labor, (i) It made a 
demand for skilled labor. When the white people went into 
the factories, they began to form trade unions to fight 
battles for higher wages, shorter hours, and better condi- 
tions in the mills, just as the workingmen of the North had 
done years before. (2) In some respects this widened the 



n 







The Custom House at Charleston, an Excellent Type of Federal 

Building 



gulf between the white people and the negroes, because the 
former were not willing to admit the latter to their unions 
or to permit them to hold the better jobs in the industries. 
(3) The growth of manufacturing also began to attract to 
the South some of the immigrants from Europe. 

Growth of New Problems. — The advance of industry shook 
thousands of Southern people out of their old habits of life 
and forced them to think about the industrial problems which 
had so long disturbed the North : about trade unions, the 
education of all the people, the government of cities, the regu- 
lation of railways and industries, the prohibition of child 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 451 

labor, and kindred matters which had not troubled the 
South in the old days. 

The Planting Aristocracy Reduced in Power. — Perhaps 
the most significant of the many changes was the decline in 
the power of the planting aristocracy. There had long been 
in the South thousands of independent and thriving white 
farmers, who owned no slaves and who often looked with 
disfavor on the system. But for the most part they had 
accepted the leadership and control of the powerful planters. 
As a well-informed Southern writer, Edgar Gardiner 
Murphy, has said of the " common people " : 

Many of them voted . . . but as a whole they stood aloof; they 
were supposed to follow where others led ; they might furnish the 
ballots, but the "superior" class was supposed to provide the candi- 
dates for important offices. There was no intimate or cordial 
alliance between their forces and the forces of the aristocracy. 
Multitudes of them were left wholly illiterate. 

When slavery was abolished and the former owners fell 
into poverty themselves, the white farmers and the poorer 
white men began to get more power in politics. They had 
fought gallantly in the war against the invading armies 
from the North, and they could no longer be denied a share 
in Southern leadership and control. In the struggle to over- 
throw negro dominion, established by the federal government 
during the days of reconstruction, all the white people, rich 
and poor, were united ; and after it was over the latter were 
unwilling to accept the inferior position which they had 
formerly occupied. The power of the planter was further 
reduced by the rise of a class of wealthy manufacturers 
and business men who could not be lightly brushed aside by 
political leaders. Thus the strength of the old aristocracy 
was broken and the " plain people " began to rule in the 
South. 



452 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



III. The Race Problem 

The Condition of the Negro on the Land. — From the days 
of reconstruction down to the present time, the problem 
of the negro has remained perplexing and troublesome. 
Beginning in the depths of poverty, the freedmen had a 
" hard row to hoe." It was not surprising that, at the end 
of the century, the negroes of the South, who formed a 



J \ 




Jl r—- .--., 



j N. DAK. , 

! 1 MINN 






! 

I UTAH ;♦ 

/ I 

\ r 

\ 

n Less than 1 per cent'*^^^^^^ 

fe'>'':3 lto5 per cent 

W//A 5 to 12^ per cent 

^ i2^ to 25 per cent 

■ 25 to 37J^ per cent 

^^ 37 y^ to 50 per cent 

Hi 50 per cent and over 




The Percentage of Negroes in the Total Population of Each State 
OF the United States 



third of the population, owned only one fortieth of the 
property. 

Division of Opinion among the White People. — Proper treat- 
ment of the negroes is still one of the grave questions of 
the South, and Southern people are naturally much divided 
over it. There is no doubt that the " new democracy " of 
plain people — farmers and workingmen — is in many 
respects not so generous to the negro as the planting 
aristocracy had been. Moderate people believe that the 



THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 453 

negroes should have opportunities to earn a fair living 
and receive education to make them skillful in trades and 
farming. A third and important group of people want to 
see the negroes do more than merely earn a decent living; 
hope that they may become more intelligent and more 
enterprising ; and are eager to aid them in improving their 
life at home and in the fields or factories. Very few South- 
ern white people believe that the negroes should vote or 
have any share in the government. 

Division of Opinion among the Negroes. — The negroes 
themselves are divided as to the best way to help their race. 
One party, led by Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, chafed at the 
restrictions imposed on the negro — the denial of the right 
to vote, the separate railway coaches, and the other signs 
of inferiority — and demanded equality of rights at once. 
Another party, led by Dr. Booker T. Washington, sought 
to teach the negro how to work with his hands and his head, 
and to acquire the skill and wages or property which would 
give him a position of independence and self-respect in the 
community. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I . Imagine yourself a Southern soldier returning to his home 
at the close of the Civil War. Describe the condition of the country 
and the changes that the war had brought. 2. Contrast with the 
experience of a Northern soldier returning to his home in the North 
or the West. 3. Make a list of the important difficulties that 
confronted the freedmen in gaining a livehhood. 

II. I. What is meant' by the "renter" system? By the 
"wage" system ? By "peonage"? 2. Why had manufacturing 
not been greatly developed in the South before the Civil War ? 
What manufacturing industries grew up after the war? How 
did this development affect the negroes? The poorer white 
people ? The planting aristocracy ? 

III. I. What is the present attitude of the Southern white 
people toward negro suffrage? Toward the education of the 



454 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

negro ? 2. Compare the views of Booker T. Washington and Dr. 
W. E. B. Du Bois regarding the negro problem. 

Problems 

1. Find all that you can about the life and work of Booker T. 
Washington. Find what other colored men have gained distinc- 
tion because of their services in improving the condition of their 
people. 

See Booker T. Washington's " Up from Slavery," especially 
chs. i, ii, iii, iv, vii, xii. 

2. Compare the effects of the industrial revolution in the South 
after the war with the effects of the industrial revolution in the 
North much earlier. (See Chapter XVI.) 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 

L The ^^Far West'' in i860 

In i860 the Great West beyond the Mississippi Valley- 
was almost unknown to the residents on the Atlantic sea- 
board. Of course there had been published many tales of 
the grand rush to California after the discovery of gold, of 
the opening of the rich Comstock silver lode in Nevada 
in the late fifties, of occasional brushes with the Indians 
on the plains, and of daring travelers who had hazarded 
the perils of the deserts and mountains to reach the 
Pacific. Only a few persons, however, realized that the 
vast regions over which the buffalo and coyote roamed un- 
disturbed could soon become the seat of numerous and pros- 
perous states. 

There was no railway connecting the Atlantic and the 
Pacific. In their westward march, railway builders had 
reached only as far as St. Joseph, Missouri. More than 
two thousand miles of trail and mountain passes lay be- 
tween that straggling Missouri town and San Francisco. 
The journey was long and dangerous. It was the lucky 
traveler who escaped unscathed the perils of the desert, 
the snow-bound mountain passes, and the marauding 
Indians. 

The Geography of the Region. — Between the frontier states 
— Minnesota, Iowa, and Texas — and the two states on the 
Pacific, California and Oregon, which had been admitted by 

455 



f i 



456 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

i860, lay a vast region almost equal in area to all the 
older eastern states combined. 




GULF OF M E K I O O 



Railroads of the United States in i860 

Much of this territory was unhke the rich prairie of the 
Mississippi and Missouri regions. A large part of it was 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 



457 



composed of plains and high plateaus where little rain fell 
and where the vegetation was slight; indeed there were 
millions of acres of sandy desert on which hardly anything 
but sage-brush and cactus grew. Beyond the great plains 
lay the Rocky Mountains and far beyond the Rockies 
towered the Sierra Nevada, both ranges rich in gold, silver, 
copper, lead, and coal. 

Beyond the Sierra was the fertile Pacific slope, much 
of which was^well watered by streams, while the remainder 
could be tilled as soon as irrigation plants could be built. 
In the valleys of the Columbia, Willamette, Sacramento, 
and San Joaquin rivers were millions of acres as fertile 
for wheat growing as any of the black prairies in the Illinois 
or Missouri country. 

Communication with the Pacific Coast. — One thing was 
essential to the opening of the Great West. That was 
quicker communication. In i860 two energetic men made 
a start by establishing the famous " pony express." They 
bought six hundred bronchos and hired seventy-five light- 
weight riders. They laid out a line of travel along which 
each man should ride a hundred miles in the plains or 
forty miles in the mountains and then be relieved by 
another. Thus a continuous chain was made to the 
coast. At noon, on April 3, i860, the first pony express 
rider dashed out of St. Joseph, Missouri, amid music and 
cheers, carrying with him a letter from President Buchanan 
to the Governor of California. Ten days later an express 
rider, tired and dusty, galloped into Sacramento on his 
broncho with the dispatch. In December, i860, President 
Buchanan's message to Congress was pubHshed in Sacra- 
mento less than nine days after its delivery in Washington ! 

Homesteaders and Prospectors. — The federal government 
helped to fill up the West by providing an easy way for the 
poorest of homeseekers to acquire land. In 1862 Congress 



4S8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

passed the famous Homestead Law permitting settlers to 
take up farms for themselves almost without cost. 
Under it any citizen, man or woman, over twenty-one, or 
any foreigner who had declared his intention of becoming 
an American citizen, was entitled to " enter " i6o acres of 
land on the government domain, free of all charges except a 
few dollars for land-office fees. Special favors were shown to 
soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. 

While the homeseekers were hunting far and wide for 
fertile lands to settle, prospectors, with pick and shovel 
in hand, were climbing and delving in search of precious 
metals. In the early sixties they found great deposits of 
gold and silver in Nevada, Idaho, and Montana, and in a 
little while rich veins of copper were unearthed, especially 
in Montana. Silver was discovered in Utah, and thousands 
of miners invaded that territory, much to the dismay of the 
Mormons. 



II. New Western States and Territories 

Nevada. — In 1861, Nevada was separated from Utah 
and made a new territory. It was settled largely by miners 
and Mormons. Although it had only about forty thousand 
inhabitants, it was, three years later, admitted to the Union 
as a state. President Lincoln needed another state to make 
the three fourths necessary to ratify the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States abohshing 
slavery forever. 

Nebraska. — In 1867 Nebraska was admitted as a state. 
This region had been organized into a territory by the famous 
Kansas-Nebraska bill of 1854, which abohshed the Mis- 
souri Compromise line, and did much to bring on the 
Civil War. Seven years later it was reduced in size, and 
when it came into the Union it had only 67,000 inhabitants. 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 459 

Colorado. — A few years after Nebraska became a state, 
the people of Colorado asked for admission to the Union. 
Congress had given them territorial government in 1861, 
when the population consisted of several thousand miners 
and prospectors, many of whom had been drawn to Pike's 
Peak and the surrounding country by the discovery of 
gold and silver at Cripple Creek and Leadville. The 
capital, named Denver in honor of the Governor of Kansas, 
whence came some of the early settlers, was founded in 1858. 
Although much of the Colorado territory was broken up by 
high mountain ranges, there were vast plateaus and many 
valleys which attracted settlers and home makers, and by 
1875 a population of more than one hundred thousand was 
claimed. The following year Colorado, to which has been 
given the name Centennial state, took its place among the 
states of the Union. 

The Western Territories in 1876. — A broad wedge 
of largely unoccupied territory separated the organized 
states of the Mississippi Valley from their sister common- 
wealths in the Far West. Washington, Idaho, Montana, 
Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Dakota, and Indian 
Territory, were still governed as territories. Their com- 
bined population in 1870 was under half a million — 
less than that of the little state of Connecticut. New 
Mexico with 91,000 inhabitants, and Utah with 86,000, 
with some chow of reason, might have claimed a place among 
the states, because at that time Oregon was inhabited by 
only 90,000 people. 

Miners and Cattlemen. — This vast and sparsely settled 
region of territories was then in the second stage of its 
economic revolution. The firstcomers — the trappers, the 
hunters, and the explorers — had finished their work. Now 
the miners were busy with pick and shovel, and the ranchmen 
and cowboys with their herds of cattle were roaming over 



460 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



the great grazing plains, waging war on cattle-thieves and 
land companies. Farmers were hunting for homesteads 
wherever fertile fields could be discovered. Railway 
builders were also invading the domains of the cattle kings. 
Utah. — In the early eighties, Utah presented the ele- 
ments of a well-settled, industrious community, but its 
admission to the Union was delayed on account of the 










«;.; ^■^-^-i^x^^-f^^'^ 



Cowboys at the Round-up 

continued practice of polygamy by the Mormons, notwith- 
standing an act of Congress, passed in 1862, prohibiting it. 
In 1887 Congress passed a law authorizing the federal gov- 
ernment to seize the property of the Mormon Church if 
polygamy did not cease. 

Polygamy Abandoned; Utah Ad^nitted as a State. — Mean- 
time the *^ gentile " population increased in the territory 
as industry and mining flourished. When the Mormons 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 



461 



finally decided to abide by the law, Congress was at last 
induced to admit Utah as a State in 1896. 

Although the Mormons were early pioneers and home- 
stead makers in the Great West, their territory was, in 
fact, the last of the middle tier to receive statehood. In 
their search for a distant home, they had left the advancing 
frontier line far behind. 

The Dakotas. — To the northward the " course of empire" 
had been checked by the enormous Sioux Indian reservation in 




^*1/H7fl#y U|i 'HKMlllIll.' » - 



Mormon Tabernacle, Utah 

Dakota, but the discovery of gold in the Black Hills marked 
the doom of the redman's claims. Miners and capitalists 
demanded that the way be made clear for their enter- 
prise, and the land-hungry were clamoring for more farms. 
Indeed, before Congress could act, pioneers were swarming 
over the regions around the Indian lands. Farmers from the 
other Northern states, as well as Norwegian, German, and 
Canadian immigrants, were planting their homesteads amid 
the fertile Dakota fields. 



462 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



The Homesteaders in Dakota. — Under the Homestead Law 
of 1862 (see page 455), any thrifty person with a Kttle 
money could easily establish himself and his family in a home 
of his own where he could make a living. Women had 
the same rights as men to ** take up " lands. A railway 
advertisement of 1877, inviting settlers to come to Dakota, 
warned immigrants to arrive ** by the first of May, if pos- 
sible, in order to have time to select their land, build a house, 



^^^ 



mfW' 






— ar-SW,,-« , - «r-->r-.T. .. ..:--H»- -_ 1 ■ '' Till*"' 




The Bad Lands, a Picturesque Region 

and be ready to commence breaking the prairie about the 
first of June." Many a settler, who had left the eastern 
coast early in the spring, found himself comfortably housed 
on the Dakota prairies with a fair crop laid by before snow 
fell. 

*' Bonanza' ' Parens. — Not all the development of the 
Dakota country, however, was the work of small farmers 
and cattlemen. Often eastern capitalists bought ten, 
twenty, or fifty thousand acres, furnished the stock and 
tools, and rented the lands to tenants. Thus there sprang 
up in those fertile regions the large " bonanza " farms. 
Some of the big farmers located in Red River Valley, 
in Dakota, built their own barges and floated their grain 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 463 

to Fargo, the principal shipping point on the Northern Pa- 
cific Railroad. 

North and South Dakota Admitted. — In 1885, the legis- 
lature of Dakota petitioned the Congress of the United 
States, asking that the territory be divided into two parts, 
and that each section be admitted as a state. Finding 
their plea for admission without avail, the voters of 
southern Dakota called a convention, in 1885, framed a 
constitution, and threatened to come into the Union un- 
asked. Moderate counsels prevailed. In 1887 the two 
sections were formed into separate territories, and two years 
later both were transformed into states. 

Washington and Montana. — Far over on the western coast 
the claims of Washington to statehood were urged. 
The population there had increased until it rivaled that 
of Oregon. In addition to rich agricultural areas, the 
territory possessed enormous timber resources ; and keen- 
sighted people foresaw a swift development of seaward 
trade. Prosperous seaport cities, Seattle and Tacoma, had 
grown up, competing with Portland and San Francisco 
to the south, and Spokane was becoming the metropolis 
of the " Inland Empire " between the Cascades and the 
Rockies. 

Between Washington and the Dakotas lay the plains 
and mountain regions of Montana, now rapidly filling up 
with miners and capitalists exploiting the gold, silver, coal, 
copper, and other mineral resources, and contesting with 
the sheep and cattle kings for economic supremacy. After 
the fashion of enthusiastic westerners, the citizens of these 
territories early began to boast of their " enormous " popu- 
lations and their " abounding " wealth, and to clamor for 
admission as states. On February 22, 1889, Washington 
and Montana were admitted to the Union at the same time 
as the two Dakotas. 



464 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Idaho and Wyoming. — Looking with jealous eyes upon 
their successful neighbors, the two territories of Idaho and 
Wyoming redoubled their efforts in the battle for statehood. 
With the rest of the new Northwest, they were making 
rapid strides forward. In July, 1890, they were admitted 
to the Union, Wyoming bringing as voters the women, to 
whom suffrage had been granted in 1867. 

Indian Territory Opened to Settlement. — The onward 
marching white man now began to cast his greedy eyes 
upon Indian Territory, which had been set apart as an Indian 
Reservation in 1834. For a long time speculators and 
" boomers,^' as well as prospective settlers, had been covet- 
ing the lands in the Oklahoma district of the Indian Terri- 
tory, and were continually breaking over the boundaries. 
The federal government, weary of driving them off the 
forbidden grounds, decided to buy out the Indians and to 
open the region as Oklahoma Territory for settlement at 
noon on April 22, 1889. 

Oklahoma. — Thousands of people were camped as near 
as possible to the border line, awaiting the day and the hour 
when the opening was to take place, ready to rush in pell- 
mell and stake out the best claims. A bugle blast 
gave the signal that the Indian lands were free for settle- 
ment, and an army of men with families in wagons, men 
and women on horseback and on foot, burst into the terri- 
tory. 

The first night cities of tents were raised at Guthrie and 
at Oklahoma City, and in ten days frame buildings ap- 
peared. These towns grew with amazing rapidity. In a 
single year they had schools, churches, several newspapers, 
and well-built business houses. Other towns in the terri- 
tory grew with the same speed, and many of them were of 
substantial growth, although a number were " boom towns," 
which quickly fell into decay. Within fifteen years Okla- 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 465 

homa had a population of over half a million. In 1907 it 
was admitted as the forty-sixth state. The new state in- 






* • .'^/^-^ . 



The Rush to Oklahoma City 



«''\\='*-rr-"'"V3'"'^' 






•mix ■•• aNv --:i--r - • 






W 



'// 4> 



I'lV 






"fll'^^'j 



Oklahoma Citv Four Weeks Later 



eluded Oklahoma Territory and the remainder of the old 

Indian Territory. t ,^,^ tV.^ U.;f 

Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska. - In 1912, the last 

of the "ntinental territor.es, Arizona and New Mex.co, were 



2H 



466 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

granted statehood, making forty-eight states in all. In the 
same year Congress provided a territorial legislature for 
Alaska, which up to that time had been governed by a 
governor appointed by the President and Senate under 
acts of Congress. Alaska had been purchased from Russia 
in 1867 for ^7,200,000. It contained more than 590,000 
square miles, that is, an area more than twice the size of 
Texas ; but at first it was called a *' worthless iceberg.^' 
However, it removed another foreign neighbor — Russia 
— from our immediate vicinity, which was considered an im- 
portant political stroke. A short time after the purchase, 
wonderful gold, silver, and coal deposits were found in 
Alaska, as well as productive fisheries and other resources. 
The people then realized that the "iceberg'' was one of the 
valuable assets of the nation. 



III. The Problem of the Public Land 

Policies of Land Disposal. — In the development of the 
Great West the disposal of the public lands by the govern- 
ment of the United States was a matter of deep concern to 
the whole nation. 

In the beginning it was the policy of the government 
to dispose of the public lands in large sections, sometimes 
embracing miUions of acres, to private companies and specu- 
lators who, in turn, broke up their purchases into smaller 
plots and sold them to actual farmers and settlers. At 
the same time was adopted the practice of selling small 
holdings directly to actual settlers or farmers at a very low 
rate. 

' From time to time, down until 1862, the federal govern- 
ment passed new laws making it easier for poor people to 
acquire small holdings of public lands in the West. In 
1862, as we have seen, came the great Homestead Act 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 467 

which enabled any person to secure practically free a 
farm of 160 acres. In addition to these laws, special timber 
and stone acts were passed, providing that lands not avail- 
able for farming could be sold to lumber, stone, and mining 
companies and individuals at low rates. Tens of millions of 
acres were also given to railroad companies to help them 
construct railway Hnes in the growing West. Furthermore 
enormous grants were made to the states for educational 
purposes. 

The Evils of Land Monopoly. — The government's land 
polic}^ helped millions of men and women in the East 
and in the Old World to secure free or cheap homesteads 
in the West. The purpose of the Homestead Act was 
to encourage the upbuilding of the West by free home- 
owning farmers. Nevertheless, land speculators and com- 
panies, often by fraudulent means, secured millions of acres 
of land intended for actual settlers and transformed them 
into great estates tilled by tenants. These speculators 
employed men to enter farms under the Homestead 
Act, and then sell the land immediately to a company. 
It was estimated that at the opening of the twentieth 
century fifty-four individuals and companies owned more 
than twenty-five millions of acres of western lands — an 
area greater than seven of the more populous eastern states. 
Their great domains, outrivaling in size and value the 
estates of the European nobility, were sometimes obtained 
through flat violation of the federal law. 

The Roosevelt Public Layid Commission. — The Govern- 
ment Public "Lands Commission, appointed by President 
Roosevelt, after a long and careful study of the matter 
said that the eflFect of the land law was, far too often, " to 
bring about land monopoly rather than to multiply small 
holdings by actual settlers." It also added that there were 
too many speculators and not enough homes on former 



468 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

government lands, and that many tracts were fraudulently 
held. 

Further Disclosures. — The report of President Roose- 
velt's Land Commission was supplemented in 1914 by the 
report of President Wilson's Industrial Relations Com- 
mission, which brought out the following startling facts : 

1. Vast estates were tilled by day laborers, who were 
paid shamefully low wages. 

2. Where the estates were let to small farmers, tenants 
often had to pay such high rents that they were scarcely able 
to make ends meet. 

3. The owners of many huge estates lived in the East 
or in Europe, and seldom saw their property or took any 
interest in it except to secure the largest possible profits 
from it ; in other words, the United States had " an ab- 
sentee landlord " problem like that of Ireland. 

4. Many of these vast estates were managed by over- 
seers whose principal concern was to please their em- 
ployers by wringing as much profit as possible from the day 
laborers. 

The Spread of the Tenant System. — It is not only on these 
great domains, originally acquired from the federal govern- 
ment, that tenant farming exists. Indeed, it is steadily 
increasing in the older eastern states as well as in the 
West and Southwest. In many states the number of actual 
home-owning farmers is steadily decreasing and their places 
are being taken by renters. To some extent this has been 
due to the fact that prosperous farmers often retire to the 
towns in their old age and rent their lands. In part it is 
due to the lack of educational opportunities and training in 
farm management. Whatever may have been the cause, 
the striking fact remains that at the opening of the twen- 
tieth century only twenty-nine per cent of the people of the 
United States owned their own homes. 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 469 

Wasteful Agricultural Methods. — In view of the popular 
indifference to the serious growth of tenant farming, it is 
not surprising to find a similar indifference to all manner 
of waste in the treatment of the soil. As some one has said, 
the western pioneers " mined the land " ; that is, they 
planted profitable crops that took all the fertility out of 
the soil — just as the miners took the coal out of the earth 
— and left it barren, moving on to new and fertile regions. 
Where the timber was cut in a thoughtless way, the rains 
washed the rich topsoil into the creeks and rivers, and car- 
ried down to the sea the fertile earth that would have pro- 
duced miUions of dollars' worth of grain and fruits. In the 
Far West, also, the pasture lands were often ruined by the 
so-called " cattle barons " who, in their haste to make 
fortunes out of their herds, permitted the stock to destroy 
all the herbage and ruin the water holes. 

Mismanagement of Timber and Mineral Lands. — The 
government was equally careless in the disposition of tim- 
ber and mineral lands. Railway and lumber companies 
were permitted to acquire enormous areas, to cut timber 
at will, and to monopolize immense lumber resources. In 
the early days companies and individuals were allowed 
to acquire, for a pittance, great waterfalls, in order to em- 
ploy the power for driving machinery or making electricity. 
If the government had been careful in the management 
of the water power on its domains, this " white coal " would 
have brought millions of dollars into the public treasury, 
and power sources acquired only to prevent competition 
might have been put to use. The same may be said of val- 
uable mineral lands which were sold at trivial prices to pri- 
vate persons and companies. 

At the opening of the twentieth century, the government 
was compelled to devote a great deal of attention to 
correcting as far as possible the mistakes of the past and 



470 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

to "conserving natural resources" for wiser uses in the 
future. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Mark on an outline map the region of the Far West 
that was practically unsettled at the time of the Civil War. How 
large was this region as compared with the settled part of the 
country ? 2. How was communication maintained with the 
Pacific coast before the days of the railroad and telegraph .? 3. 
What were the important provisions of the Homestead law ? Why 
was the government so generous in giving land to settlers } 

II. I. How did it happen that Nevada was admitted as 
a state so long before many of the territories to the east of it ? 
2. What led to the early settlements in Colorado ? Why is Col- 
orado called the "Centennial" state? 3. What people had 
first settled Utah ? Why was the admission of Utah as a state 
so long delayed ^ Under what conditions was it finally admitted ^ 
4. What led the settlers at first to avoid the Dakotas ? When 
were the Dakotas finally admitted ? 5. At what time did Wash- 
ington and Montana become states ? How long before this had 
Oregon been admitted.? (See table of states, Appendix, p. 641.) 
6. Why was the present state of Oklahoma formerly known as 
"Indian Territory"? How did it come to be settled by white 
people and admitted as a state ? 7. What are the youngest 
states of the Union and when did they become states ? 8. How 
did this country come into possession of Alaska ? What was 
thought of this region at the time ? Why has this opinion 
changed ? 

III. I. In what way did the land companies succeed in get- 
ting possession of public lands ? What were the evils of this 
"land monopoly"? 2. What is meant by a "tenant" farmer? 
Why has the number of such farmers increased during recent 
years ? What are the dangers of having so much land farmed 
by those who do not own it? 3. Why should a country be 
particularly careful not to waste its forests ? Why is it unwise 
to let corporations secure permanent or long-time possession of 
water-power ? 



THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 471 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Imagine yourself taking a trip by stage coach from St. 
Joseph to San Francisco at the time of the Civil War. Describe 
how you would have traveled and what you would have been 
likely to see. 

See Hitchcock's "The Louisiana Purchase," ch. xv; Mark 
Twain's "Roughing It," chs. i-viii. 

2. In what different ways did the geography of the Rocky 
Mountain country (the surface, rainfall, rivers, etc.) influence the 
settlement of this region .? 

See your geographies; also Brigham's "Geographic Condi- 
tions of American History," chs. viii and ix. 

3. Look up stories of life on the homesteads and ranches of 
the West, such as Hamlin Garland's " Son of the Middle 
Border." 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 

The government, in order to keep the armies in the field 
during the Civil War, called for immense supplies of iron, steel, 
wagons, cotton and woolen cloth, hardware, railway materials, 
arms and ammunition, as well as immense stores of flour, 
bacon, and other farm produce. As a result of this extraor- 
dinary demand, the building of railways, the opening of 
mines, the erection of factories, and the invention of wonder- 
ful machines and labor-saving devices went on with marvel- 
ous speed. Within a few years the value of farms was 
far exceeded by other kinds of property; such as railroads, 
mills, mines, city office buildings, and investments in indus- 
tries of all kinds. 

It is impossible in a brief book like this to describe the 
great strides taken in American industry and commerce 
since i860. There are, however, several " basic industries,'^ 
so called because they are the foundations of nearly all of 
the other industries, which require special mention. Among 
these are included iron, steel, copper, coal, oil, and textile 
industries. 

I. The Development of Manufacturing and Mining 

The Age of Iron and Steel. — Many writers truly speak of 
this as the iron age, and a little thought will show how de- 
pendent the nation really is upon this industry. Without 
it no railway Hnes could bind the East and the West, the 

472 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 



473 



North and the South. It affords the framework for sky- 
scrapers in the cities, materials for bridges, factory buildings, 
engines, machines, and agricultural implements. Without 
iron and steel the United States could be only a farming 
country, with crude methods of farming and with stage- 
coaches and wagons for transporting passengers and goods. 
Continued Dependence on Europe. — The immense orders 
for guns, engines, rails, and other war materials, from 







J \ MONT. i N.DAK. 1 

/ ( ^ j (MINN. 

. IDAHO I I S.DAK. I 

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ARK. / N. MEX. I ■- v.^ i 

*' Lr-S;—- ^ TEXAS 



V 



^' 




Iron Deposits of the United States 

i86i to 1865, gave a great impetus to the iron and 
steel industry of Pennsylvania, which was the chief seat 
of that business. The masters and men in the foundries, 
though straining every nerve to meet the increasing de- 
mands upon them, could by no means supply the home 
market. Before i860 the American railway companies had 
been compelled to look to England for most of their steel 
rails and locomotives, and for twenty years after that date 
the United States, in spite of the tariff, imported several 
hundred thousand tons of rails annually. 



474 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



New Discoveries and Rapid Development. — About 1870 
the iron ranges of the Lake Superior region were discov- 
ered and ore was shipped in huge quantities to the works 
at Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Chicago. The 
South also began to do her share, for rich deposits of iron 
were unearthed in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. 
To transform the ore into pig-iron and steel, great iron 
mills were erected in those regions. 

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Steel Making in Pennsylvania Mills 

The iron mills of Pennsylvania also steadily enlarged their 
production. By 1895, the importation of steel rails from 
abroad had nearly ceased and thousands of tons were being 
sent out to supply the markets of the world. At the begin- 
ning of the twentieth century, the output of American steel 
was greater than that of Germany and Great Britain com- 
bined, and the annual export of steel from the United States 
was larger than that of the world's workshop, Great Britain. 

The Development of Other Mineral Industries. Oil. — 
The development of other mineral resources kept pace with 
iron and steel. Petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania 
in 1859, and during the war it was extensively used by the 
government. The oil regions of Pennsylvania were soon 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 475 

dotted with derricks and wells. By 1872 petroleum stood 
fourth in rank among American exports. Refineries were 
early established in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and 
in Cleveland, Ohio, to transform the crude oil into kerosene, 
gasoline, and other products. The famous Standard Oil 
Company operating one of two hundred fifty refineries, 
produced, in 1870, only about four per cent of the total out- 
put. Within fifteen years it had become the leading com- 
pany in the United States and controlled about ninety-five 
per cent of the supply. From the East, the oil industry 
spread into the South and West, — Texas, Oklahoma, and 
California, where are now the most productive oil fields. 

Coal. — By 1890 the annual production of anthracite and^ 
soft coal and iron ore exceeded the wildest dreams of the 
miners of old days. New fields were opened by prospectors 
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Hlinois, Minnesota, Ala- 
bama, and Colorado ; and regions that had formerly been a 
wilderness or farming land, were transformed into manu- 
facturing and mining districts. 

Gold. — To the wealth drawn from the ground in the East 
were added the precious metals of the West. The gold fields 
of California had been seized when the rush of miners came 
in 1849; but in a little while prospectors had pushed out 
into the mountain ranges of Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and 
Colorado, where they found treasures that made the fortunes 
won by Cortez and Pizarro in Mexico and Peru look paltry. 

Copper. — About the time that the Lake Superior iron 
region was opened up, copper deposits were discovered in 
the same district, and the mines of northern Michigan pro- 
duced, in 1875, more than sixteen thousand tons of copper 
— almost the entire output of the country. This supply 
was vastly increased a few years later by the discovery of 
new deposits in the mountain ranges of the West — Mon- 
tana, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. 



476 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Development of the Textile Industries. — The same 
story of progress may be told of cotton and woolen goods. 
New England manufacturers steadily increased the num- 
bers of their spindles and looms, particularly at the great 
centers, — Manchester, Lawrence, Lowell, Providence, and 



^v-^.,. 



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/^■"■^■---j-- if -noo-l°! ^t~% \-A 



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■■ Anthracite 
K^ii^ Bituminous 
\Miji Svbhituminous & Lignite 




Coal Deposits of the United States 



Fall River, — until by the close of the century the United 
States was making about ninety per cent of all the 
cotton cloth which it used and was exporting huge 
quantities. Long before the close of the century, South- 
ern mills, mainly in North and South Carolina, began to 
rival the New England factories by turning out milHons of 
pounds of cotton yarn annually. As for carpets, some one 
has estimated that the yearly output of American looms 
would stretch twice around the globe. Philadelphia became 
the greatest carpet-manufacturing center. 

The Extent of Industrial Progress. — Space will not per- 
mit us to record the other developments which wrought 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 



477 



a revolution in the life and labor of the people, but we 
may sum up the results roughly: In 1910 the value of 
American industries was more than six times their value 
in i860. In 1900 there were fifteen groups of industries 
each of which produced more than a billion dollars' worth of 
goods annually. The list included iron and steel, textiles, 
lumber, and food products. 



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IDANr^ ! : S. DAK, I \ WIS. 





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• $150,000,000 

© $112,500,000 to $150,000,000 

a $75,000,000 to $112,500,000 

O $37,500,000 to $75,000,000 

O I^ss than $37,500,000 



V/-N 



Distribution of Manufacturing in the United States (Annual Value) 

The value of the annual output of mines and factories is 
far greater than that of all the farms stretching from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. Moreover, the center of manufactur- 
ing has moved slowly westward until it is now in the state 
of Ohio. 

II. The Development of Transportation 
The Development of Railroads. — This extraordinary 
revolution in all parts of the country would have been im- 
possible if it had not been for the rapid building of railways 
and canals and the growth of coast, lake, and river shipping. 



478 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 479 

In i860 there were only 30,000 miles of railway lines in the 
United States. By 1910 there were 242,000 miles. The 
early builders of railroads naturally turned their attention 
to the construction of lines between important eastern cities, 
such as Boston and Albany, Philadelphia and Reading, 
New York and Buffalo. By i860 the great cities of the 
East Hke Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were con- 
nected by various, routes with Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, 
IndianapoHs, and St. Louis ; and pioneers in railway build- 
ing had even advanced more than a hundred miles beyond 
the Mississippi. Chicago was linked with New Orleans ; 
Savannah with Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville. 

The First Transcontinental Railroad {i86g). — The great 
triumph came with the opening of the Union Pacific Rail- 
road. The necessity of binding the country together with a 
" cross continent " line was early recognized by business 
men. In 1862 Congress chartered the Union Pacific Rail- 
way Company, giving it the right to build tracks through the 
public domain and making it a large loan of money and gift 
of land. The line was constructed by two companies : one 
working westward from Omaha, Nebraska; the other 
eastward from Sacramento, California. The two construc- 
tion companies met near Ogden, Utah, in 1869, and it was an- 
nounced to the world that the East and the West were bound 
together by " a band of steel that would never be broken." 

The Fever for Railroad Construction. — While this one 
grand Une was being built across the continent, hundreds of 
short lines were being constructed in every direction, north 
and south. People everywhere invested money in railways, 
expecting to get rich in a hurry. Farmers and merchants 
along new lines bought the stocks and bonds. Cities, 
townships, counties, and states granted lands and voted 
money to companies in order to secure connections with one 
another and with the outside world. 



48o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 











-i 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 481 

Goverfiment Subsidies for Building Railroads. — The fed- 
eral government, as well as state and local governments, paid 
a large part of the cost of many early railways. Congress 
either gave money or guaranteed bonds for railroad compa- 
nies to the amount of tens of millions of dollars, and then 
gave them enormous areas of land besides. Up to 1872, the 
federal government had granted in aid of railways 155,000,- 
000 acres of land, an area estimated as " almost equal to the 
New England states. New York, and Pennsylvania com- 
bined ; nineteen different states had voted sums aggregating 
$200,000,000 for the same purpose ; and municipalities and 
individuals had subscribed several hundred million dollars 
to help railway construction." 

In 1890 it was estimated that the government had granted 
337,740,000 acres of public lands to companies and to states 
for wagon roads, canals, river improvements, and railroads. 
This empire was equal to one sixth of the total area of the 
United States and three times the area of France. 

The Infltience of the Railroads. — The great progress in 
American business was promoted by these lines of com- 
munication running in every direction. They connected 
the farming regions of the western plains with the seaports 
of the East, enabling the farmers to rush their products 
into European markets and, in return, to receive the 
manufactured products of the Old World and of the East. 
They encouraged the settlement of the far-off and back- 
ward regions, until almost every arable acre of the country 
was brought under the plow. They made it possible for 
the prospectors and miners who tapped the rich mineral re- 
sources of the earth to pour their heavy materials into the 
markets in every corner of the country. By linking all sec- 
tions they helped to bind them into a closer national unity. 

The Merchant Marine. — In aiding railway lines the 
government did not overlook shipping along the American 

2 I 



482 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



1 



sea coasts and on the Great Lakes. Special protection against 
foreign competition was granted. Between i860 and the 
end of the century that shipping multiplied threefold. Ship 
owners engaged in carrying goods from Boston to New York 
and to Charleston, for example, or from Chicago to Buffalo, 
steadily increased their business until their ships, in size, 
speed, and strength, were equal to the ocean-going liners. 
Where protection was not afforded, however — on the h'igh 
seas — the tonnage of American ships engaged in foreign 
trade steadily declined, until about the close of the century 
it was less than half what it had been at the end of the Civil 
War. At the opening of the twentieth century more than 
nine tenths of the goods exported from, and imported into, 
the United States were carried in ships flying foreign flags. 

This decline of ocean-going American shipping was respon- 
sible for the constant demand that Congress should grant 
money to American business men who undertook to build 
and operate vessels across the seas. Such grants, known 
as " ship subsidies,'' were strongly opposed, chiefly by 
the West and South, on the ground that we should ship 
our goods in the cheapest way. They were warmly sup- 
ported, however, in the seaboard states, and also by those 
who held that we should strengthen our navy by training 
up a body of able sailors in the merchant marine. It was 
not until President Wilson's administration that Congress 
voted money and provided aid in the construction of a high- 
seas marine. 

Changes Due to Development in Industry and Transpor- 
tation. — The changes in American life, which we have men- 
tioned in Chapter XVII, became even more vital and more 
widespread. Instead of a handful of inventors, there was 
a great army ; instead of a few thousand miners and mill 
workers, there were millions ; instead of a few merchant 
princes, financiers, and captains of industry, there were 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 483 

thousands. In the westward regions there was heard the 
roar of mills and furnaces. In the valleys and on the 
mountain-sides of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Nevada, 
where in the days of Antietam and Gettysburg only the 
handiwork of nature was seen, there began to gleam the 
fires of the furnaces and srnelters, and heaps of gray slag 
were piled so high that they almost rivaled the mountains. 
Where in Lincoln's day ran the pony express and the 
stagecoach, there now rushed swift trains bearing passengers 
and freight East and West. 



III. The Army of Industry : Inventors, Business 
Men, and Artisans 

The Great Service Rendered by Inventors. — Among the 
millions of individuals who worked in our great industries, we 
may put first the inventors, who are to be numbered 
Kterally by the tens of thousands. It seems hardly just 
to name any of them, for not one of the many inventions 
made in the last half century — the typewriter, tin can, 
telephone, phonograph, airplane, wireless telegraph, electric 
light, electric car, self-binding reaper, and automobile, to 
mention only a few — is entirely the work of a single in- 
ventor. 

The republic of inventors, like the republic of letters, is 
really universal. A need is felt, and a score or more of in- 
ventors, sometimes unknown to each other and living in 
different parts of the country or of the world, attempt to 
meet it. They gather ideas from the work of other thinkers 
and from writings of students. They experiment and make 
little gains here and there, one adding to the work of an- 
other, until at length a marvelous machine is produced. 

The Slow Accumulation of Improvements. — We associate 
with the name of Alexander Graham Bell, of Boston, the 



484 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



invention of the telephone, and we know that, in fact, he 
really brought it into human service, basing his achieve- 
ments on more than a century's experiments in the field 
of electricity. After Bell demonstrated the practical use 
of the telephone, hundreds of other inventors added to it, 
refining it here and there, until in 191 5 the continent was 

spanned, and the Mayor of 
New York was able to talk 
to the Mayor of San Fran- 
cisco. 

Who then devised the 
telephone which we use to- 
day ? A thousand inven- 
tors or more, most of them 
nameless and unhonored in 
the pages of history. What 
is the date of the invention 
of the telephone ^ Super- 
ficial writers may fix it at 
1876, when Bell made his 
first successful experiment 
over a few miles of wire; but the accurate historian will 
have to record that the invention of the telephone covers 
more than a century, from the time when men first began 
to experiment with electricity, down to the latest hour. 

The same is true of other inventions. We speak of the 
invention of the arc light by Charles H. Brush, of Cleveland, 
Ohio, in 1878, and undoubtedly he was a great genius. 
Nevertheless his work rested upon older experiments with 
electricity, and was only the beginning of many improve- 
ments. We associate the invention of the incandescent 
electric lamp, the phonograph, and the electric street car 
with Thomas A. Edison, the " Wizard of Menlo Park " ; and 
yet justice requires us to say that Edison drew to his aid the 




Bell's First Telephone 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 485 

experiments and failures of hundreds of other inventors. 
He added ideas of his own. We think of the Wright brothers 
in connection with the airplane, but many other inven- 
tors helped. The aluminum industry and the gas engine 
had to be brought to a high state of perfection before flying 
machines could be of practical utility. We commonly con- 
nect the invention of the wireless with the name of the 
Italian genius, Marconi, but he was only one among a 
large group of foreign and American workers who con- 
tributed to the solution of the problem. It was not until 
the electrical industry was well advanced that it was pos- 
sible to think of sending messages through vast spaces with- 
out the aid of wires. 

By the activities of hundreds of scientists and inventors a 
new world of human endeavor was created. Scientific books 
and periodicals were published, and scientific instruction was 
established in the schools and colleges. The thought, in- 
genuity, and hopes of miUions were quickened, and the 
spirit of discovery and invention entered the very Hfe of the 
nation. 

Thomas A. Edison. — One of the most interesting and 
important facts about the inventors is that so many of them 
came from the common walks of life rather than from the 
" aristocracy of wealth and talent." Of this great army 
Thomas A. Edison may perhaps be placed at the head ; 
although he, realizing how much there is yet to be done in 
the conquest of nature's forces, is the most modest of 
men. He was born in 1847, at Milan, Ohio. He was not 
sent to school and college, but received such education as 
he had from his mother. His parents were poor, and when he 
reached the age of twelve he became a newsboy on the 
railway between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan. His 
mind was always full of wonder, and he kept his eyes open 
watching everything that went on about him. Before he 



486 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



had reached the age of twenty-one, he made two or three 
important inventions. In 1869 he removed to the East, 
and began a long series of experiments which produced the 
many new devices and improvements on other inventions 



|j,iimi!l|(;i||IMM!i|"|rlMmilMlil[li'lill]j'''''"P' 



i|/t'll|ll".''.i!i!'i'!!ijil'.'.".'i"i' 'piip'"!""""" 

'•'iiinii|i|iiii||iii™iiHiiilliiiiiiliiliiiilliiiiiHiii"''fii''iill^ ||)'' 




"'""I'l'liiii,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, - 

Edison in His Laboratory at West Orange, N. J. 

which are connected with his name; such as the incandes- 
cent electric light, the electric street railway, the phono- 
graph, the mimeograph, the storage battery, and the mov- 
ing picture. 

The Work of the Business Men. — Before an invention 
can be widely used, a business must be organized to manu- 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 487 

facture it in large quantities. So we must rank with 
the inventors the huge army of business men, merchants, 
manufacturers, and capitaHsts, who organized companies, 
raised the money, and brought together the supphes 
necessary to industry on a vast scale — " captains of in- 
dustry " and "barons of finance" as they are sometimes 
called, richer and more powerful than kings of old. Some 
of these men had for a main purpose the making of large 
sums of money. Others had visions of mighty industrial 
organizations spanning the continent and spreading out into 
all portions of the world. 

Like the inventors, they began with little things and 
simple enterprises, and then advanced to larger and more 
difficult tasks. Take, for example, the first railway mag- 
nates. They thought that the construction of fifty or a 
hundred miles of railway was a great achievement. In 
time, however, came the Vanderbilts, the Goulds, and the 
Harrimans, who combined and organized thousands of 
miles of railways, bringing together under one company a 
mileage stretching more than halfway across the conti- 
nent. Then there were manufacturers like Andrew Carnegie 
and John D. Rockefeller, who began with httle things and 
gradually reached out in every direction, until they built up 
enormous business corporations, employing armies of workers 
and controlling vast resources. 

The Standard Oil Company is a kingdom in itself, with its 
innumerable wells, refineries, pipe lines, steamships, stores, 
and branch offices in the United States and in every part 
of the world. In Siam, India, China, Russia, and in the 
waste and out-of-the-way places of the earth, the signs of 
that great company may be seen. 

Then, again, there is the Bell Telephone Company, one 
of whose early managers had a vision of " a telephone link- 
ing every cottage, village, and city in the country." As a 



488 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

result of this vision and the labors of the managers and 
employees, it is almost impossible to find any place of human 
habitation out of reach of the telephone. 

All this would not have been brought about if there had 
not risen also barons of finance like J. P. Morgan, who were 
able to collect millions and even billions of dollars to finance 
gigantic enterprises. The money power was concentrated in 
the business sections of cities with their stock exchanges, 
their brokers' offices, their banks and trust companies. 

The Service of the Laborers. — Last, but by no means least, 
was the still mightier army of laborers, men and women, skilled 
and unskilled, ranging from the low-paid wielder of shovel 
and pickax to the carefully trained scientist and mechani- 
cian. The industries described above could never have 
grown out of small proportions had it not been for the mil- 
lions of laborers drawn from every clime — Irish, Germans, 
Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Bohemians, Czechs, Jews, 
Greeks, Slovaks, and the rest. Without this vast labor 
supply, the work of the inventors and the enterprise of the 
capitalists would have accomplished nothing. 

Without laborers, *^ King Industry '^ would have ruled over 
a shadow realm and his coffers would have been empty. 
The laborers were the people who mined his ores, dug his 
coal, built his railways, kept vigil at his humming machinery, 
operated his great furnaces, wrought his iron work, lifted 
up his towering sky-scrapers. They not only did his work ; 
they peopled the industrial centers ; they were the " plain 
citizens '' upon whose conduct and character depended the 
very life of the nation. 

IV. The Results of Industrial Development 

The Development of the Export Trade. — Through the 
labors of its people the United States was enabled to take 
its place among the first industrial nations of the earth. The 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 489 

products of mill and mine as well as those of the farm went 
into all corners of the earth. Business men searched for 
fresh opportunities to sell their goods and to invest their 
money, competing with the British and the Germans in 
Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Orient. 
They delivered shiploads of manufactured products to 
European markets where their fathers had been only 
buyers. They unloaded at Liverpool steel billets at a 
price that frightened the English steel magnates, who, in 
older days, had found only customers in America. Thus 
the United States, in the search for markets and profitable 
investments, became a " world power." 

The "Frontier" Disappears. — Another chief result of 
this progress was the disappearance of the frontier and the 
backwoods. King Industry must view all of his dominion 
from the mountain top. There must be no precious metals 
or ores or waterfalls or mysterious places hidden to his gaze. 
His subjects search in the highways and byways, in the 
mountain passes, in the deserts and caiions, in the forests, 
by the seaside — everywhere, for nature's materials to trans- 
form, and for nature's resources to develop. Under his rule, 
railways, like a vast network of veins and arteries, run in 
every direction. The government comes to his aid, and by 
its rural free-delivery system, carries mail and gathers it 
up along the seldom trod pathways and in the prosperous 
farming regions. The governments, federal and state, spend 
millions of dollars building highways, opening up remote 
regions, where a generation ago the settlers for a week at 
a time never saw a stranger. Instead of the old toll roads 
of ten or twenty miles, there are stretches of macadam 
highways hundreds of miles long. 

As the backwoods regions were opened up, and cities built, 
the center of population moved westward. In 1800 it was 
a few miles west of Baltimore; in 1850 it was near the 



490 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

border of southern Ohio; in 1880 it was beyond Cincin- 
nati; and, in 1910, it was near Bloomington, Indiana. 

Business and Industry Gain on Farming. — The marvel- 
ous advance in industry and commerce brought in its train 
a revolution in American Hfe. The United States was not 
to be what Jefferson had hoped : in the main, a nation of 
independent, home-owning farmers. The number of wage 




VVm«.Eiig.Co..N.Y. 



The Westward Movement of the Center of Population 



workers as compared with the farmers was to be larger and 
larger from decade to decade. Between i860 and the end 
of the century the total population of the United States in- 
creased about threefold, while the number of wage workers 
increased fivefold, that is, from 1,300,000 to 6,600,000. At 
the outbreak of the Civil War the great majority of voters 
were farmers and planters ; at the opening of the twentieth 
century the business men and wage workers promised soon 
to outnumber the workers on the land. 

The Growth of the Cities. — The growth of industry also 
meant a steady increase in the number of people living in 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 491 

cities and towns. In i860, only about one sixth of the 
American people dwelt in towns of over 10,000. By the 
end of the century the proportion had grown to one third. 
The census of 1910 recorded that nearly one half of the 
people Hved in towns of 2500 and over. In Massachusetts, 
for example, more than nine tenths of the people lived in 
towns of over 2500; in New York the proportion was 
nearly eight tenths, and in Pennsylvania, six tenths. In 
the forty years between the first inauguration of Lincoln and 
the second inauguration of McKinley, Chicago grew from 
1 10,000 to 1,700,000 ; New York from 1,200,000 to 3,400,000 ; 
and San Francisco from 57,000 to 343,000. 

Industrial Development Brings Many Evils. Poverty. — 
The massing of the people in towns became very serious, 
especially because so many of them were poor immigrants 
who spoke no Enghsh and were accustomed to living on low 
wages. Being unable to seek employment themselves, they 
readily fell into the hands of " patrons " or "gang bosses '' 
of their own countrymen, who farmed them out as laborers 
and took part of their wages. The people of each nation- 
ality tended to cling together and form a separate section 
of the population almost as much out of touch with American 
life as though they were living in the Old World. Unskilled 
laborers often received low wages and were frequently out 
of employment ; they were forced to live cheaply in crowded 
tenements ; and they were the victims of poverty and 
disease. The industrial workers, being compelled to migrate 
from place to place in search of employment, were unable 
to buy homes of their own, and from two thirds to nine 
tenths of them became permanent renters. 

Child Labor and Woman Labor. — The problems of the 
wage workers were all the more serious because the number 
of women, girls, and children employed out of their homes 
grew steadily from year to year. By 1870 about one sev- 



492 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

enth of the women over sixteen years of age were employed 
in gainful pursuits, and in 1900 the number had increased to 
more than one fifth. In the latter year, about one third of 
the women of Philadelphia were employed for wages, and 
about one eighth of them were working in factories. At the 
same time, 18,000 out of 42,000 women at Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, were wage workers — about 15,000 of them in fac- 
tories. Owing to the difficulties of forming unions among 
women, their wages, even for the same work as done by 
men, were in many trades very low, and their poverty was 
bitter in the extreme. 

Industrial Panics. The Panic of 187^, — Americans 
rushed with such haste into constructing railroads, opening 
mines, and building factories, that they overdid things 
and every few years there was a big "smash" in business. 
In 1873 there came a great industrial "panic,'' which was 
attributed at the time to the building of more factories, 
mills, mines, and oil refineries than the demand for goods 
warranted. Moreover, there was so much capital invested 
in railroads that it was impossible for the traffic to pay 
interest on it. So it happened that hundreds of railroad 
companies were forced into bankruptcy. Some of them re- 
duced the wages of their employees. This action brought 
on strikes, such as the famous strike of 1877 on the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad. 

The Panic of i8q2-j. — Another great panic occurred in 
the early nineties, when business was paralyzed. Thousands 
of workmen were out of employment tramping the streets 
hunting for jobs, and strikes broke out all over the country. 
It was then that a band of unemployed, led by " General " 
Coxey, marched to Washington to demand relief from the 
government. In such periods of business disorder serious 
havoc was wrought, particularly among the working people. 
The unemployed were often compelled to beg for bread ; 



THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 493 

homes were broken up because fathers had to go away from 
them to find employment ; men and women, once honorable 
and honored, were often changed into beggars and thieves 
because they were in such desperate circumstances. 

The Waste of Natural Resources. The Forests and Mines. 
— While business men were pressing forward with their 
industries with so little heed to the lives of the working people 
crowded in the cities, they were equally reckless in using up 
the natural resources of the country. The fur-bearing animals 
were slaughtered to get as much immediate profit as possible 
for the fur dealers. All the great fishing grounds would have 
been ruined, had not the national and state governments 
established fishing commissions to re-stock the waters and 
keep up the supply. Millions of acres of timber were 
cut over in haste to make money; only the best trees 
were taken, and they were permitted to fall so as to injure 
young growth. Careless woodmen allowed fires to sweep 
over thousands of acres, destroying millions of dollars' 
worth of timber. The same waste occurred in mining. 
In their hurry to make profits, the mining companies 
cut out only the best ores or the most profitable veins 
of coal, leaving in abandoned mines immense untouched 
stocks. 

In picturing the triumph of industry, therefore, we must 
not leave out of our account the darker shades — the legacy 
of serious problems which it bequeathed to the future. We 
marvel at the ingenuity of the inventors ; we wonder at the 
colossal enterprises of the business men ; and we admire 
the skill and swiftness of the industrial workers. It is 
fitting that we should do this ; but we must remember that 
the thought and vigilance of generations of citizens will be 
taxed to the utmost to bring out of this mighty industrial 
revolution the best and happiest Hfe for the millions who 
labor for their daily bread. 



494 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



Questions and Exercises 



1 



I. I. In what ways did the Civil War stimulate manufacturing 
in the North ? What kinds of manufactured goods are increased 
in demand by war ? What kinds of goods are likely to decrease in 
demand ? 2. State some of the reasons explaining why Pennsyl- 
vania became a great center for the iron and steel industries. 
Iron ore is abundant around Lake Superior, but there are few 
furnaces and steel mills in that region. Why .? Where is the ore 
from the Lake Superior region turned into iron and steel products } 
3. Locate on an outline map of the United States the principal 
regions producing: (a) iron ore; (b) copper; (c) petroleum; 
(d) hard coal ; and (e) soft coal. 

II. I. Why would the industrial development have been 
impossible without the development of railroads and canals ? 
2. When was the first transcontinental railroad opened .? 3. 
What is meant by a "subsidy".? Why did the federal govern- 
ment grant subsidies for the building of railroads .? 4. Why 
were ocean steamship lines also not granted subsidies ? 5. In 
what kind of trade was our merchant marine chiefly engaged in 
the late nineteenth century ? 

III. I. Whose name is connected with the invention and de- 
velopment of the telephone .? 2. What other great inventions 
have been made or developed by Americans ^ 3. Tell the story 
of Thomas A. Edison. 4. Why were the business men impor- 
tant in the development of industry .? Who were some of the 
great ''captains of industry".? 5. What part did the artisans 
and laborers play in the triumph of industry .? 

IV. I. Name the important results of the great development 
of industry since the Civil War. 2. Why is export trade impor- 
tant to a nation } 3. What is meant by the ''disappearance of 
the frontier" .? 4. How did industrial development influence 
the growth of cities ? 5. What were some of the evils that 
came with the growth of industry f 6. What is meant by an 
*' industrial panic" .? What were the two great panic years .? 

Review. Make a list of the developments following the Civil 
War that made the United States into a "World Power." 



•THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 495 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Think over and discuss the ways in which the development 
of one industry helps the growth*of other industries : how the 
railroads, for example, helped agriculture, and at the same time 
created a large demand for steel products ; how the growth of the 
farms helped manufacturing of all sorts ; and how the growth of 
railroads and manufacturing helped mining. 

2. Tell the story of the telephone. 

See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," pp. 286- 
291. 

3. Find out all that you can about the development of lighting 
from the days of the tallow candle to the invention of the incandes- 
cent electric light. 

See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," pp. (i^- 

4. Look up the life of Edison in Wheeler's " Thomas Edison." 



CHAPTER XXVI 
IMMIGRATION 

I. The Early Sources of Immigration 

The Population of the Early Republic. — When American 
independence was declared, more than three fourths of the 
population, if we exclude the slaves, were of English and 
Scotch descent. Here and there throughout the country 
were scattered settlers from other nations : Germans in 
Pennsylvania, Swedes in Delaware, Dutch in New York, 
Irish and Welsh in the Middle Colonies, and a few French 
Huguenots at various points. If the United States however 
had shut out all other aliens and reserved the land for the 
descendants of citizens residing here at the time of the 
Revolution, the total population at the opening of the 
twentieth century, it is estimated, would have been about 
thirty-five millions instead of nearly one hundred millions. 

In the early days of the Republic there were many people 
who looked with disfavor on foreign immigration. Jeffer- 
son, for example, wanted to keep artisans and their work- 
shops in Europe. It was almost fifty years before other 
nationalities than the English and Scotch began to take an 
important rank. 

The Coming of the Irish and the Germans. — The first 
marked invasion, that of the Irish and the Germans, opened 
about the middle of the nineteenth century. Many of the 
Irish stopped in the cities and sought employment as 
manual laborers, or went out into the construction camps 

496 



IMMIGRATION 



497 



where railways and canals were being built. The Germans, 
on the other hand, seemed at first to prefer farming. Per- 
haps a major portion of them went west and bought land or 
entered government domains opened to settlers. 

The Homestead Law Stimulated Immigration. — There 
was a lull in immigration for a few years after i860; even 




Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island, the United States Immigration 

Station 

those who wished to escape from oppression and starvation 
in Europe did not relish the idea of going to a country en- 
gaged in a desperate war. The federal government therefore 
decided to make special efforts to encourage able-bodied 
foreigners to come to our shores. The Homestead Act of 
1862 provided that aliens who declared their intention of 
becoming citizens could secure free homes in the West. 
This law also induced thousands of native laborers to move 

2K 



498 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

West to become farmers, thus leaving in the mills vacant 
places which attracted the operatives of Europe. 

The Bureau of Immigration Established. — Two years 
later, in 1864, the government, still more anxious to increase 
the labor supply, passed a law making it legal for immi- 
grants in Europe to pay their way over to the United 
States by pledging their wages in advance. Since a rush 
of foreigners was to be expected, this act provided that the 
President should appoint a Commissioner of Immigration to 
superintend the admission of aliens, and to protect new- 
comers from " sharpers '' and thieves. As the authors of 
the law foresaw, the pent-up flood of migration broke forth 
again. Contractors sent agents abroad to secure laborers 
to work in the mines, on the railroads, and in the factories. 
These agents advanced money to the laborers to pay their 
passage, and bound them by contract to work for a certain 
number of months under orders until the money was paid 
back. Those who came under this arrangement were not 
unHke the bond servants who were brought into Pennsyl- 
vania in the eighteenth century. 

Immigration Immediately after the Civil War. The 
Scandinavians. — Western land, opened under the Home- 
stead act, like a powerful magnet, drew thrifty peasants to 
our shores. For twenty years after the war, the Germans 
and the Irish made up the bulk of the foreign immigration ; 
but many settlers came also from Denmark, Sweden, and 
Norway. When Prussia with the help of Austria wrested 
Schleswig-Holstein away from Denmark in 1864, thousands 
of Danes fled to the United States. The Scandinavians took 
advantage of the oflFer of free land in the West and, by the 
thousands, settled in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the 
Dakotas. They developed prosperous farms, built schools 
and churches, and founded colleges. No immigrants to these 
shores proved to be more worthy of their heritage than the 
newcomers from Northern Europe. 



IMMIGRATION 



499 



The Chinese. — In this period the Chinese began to 
land in large numbers on the western coast. Indeed, as 
early as 1852, twenty-five thousand of them were already 
in California. The firstcomers were mainly domestic serv- 
ants, laun- ,„,„ ,. , i„H , ,. ., , 

drymen, and 
day laborers. 
When rail- 
road con- 
struction be- 
gan in the 
Far West, 
contractors, 
casting about 
for a labor 
supply, 
found it in 
China. Then 
Chinese im- 
migra t ion 
incre ased 
rapidly. Ev- 
ery induce- 
ment was 
offered t o 
them to 
come, and 




A Chinese Merchant in His Shop 



they were cordially received. The Oriental, however, was 



willing 



to accept low wages, and so took work away 



from the native Americans or compelled them to reduce 
their demands in order to hold their places. As he 
was also willing to live in cheap houses and poor sur- 
roundings, he menaced the American standard of living. 
When American working men in large numbers began to 



500 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

settle on the coast, ill will toward the Chinese arose and 
steadily increased. 

II. Changes in Immigration after 1890 

The Invasion from Southern and Eastern Europe. New 
Peoples. — A second era in the history of immigration 
opened about 1890. The new period was marked, in the first 
place, by a decided change in the nationality of the immi- 
grants. The number coming from Great Britain, Ireland, 
and Germany fell off rapidly, and the proportion from 
Scandinavian countries did not increase. By 1896 the 
immigrants from Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia 
greatly outnumbered those from the north and west 
of Europe, and in 1910 nine tenths of all the immi- 
grants arriving in the United States were from the south 
and east of Europe. Jews, who by the tens of thousands 
were driven out of Russia and Rumania by cruel op- 
pression, really had no choice but to flee to the United 
States. 

The following table shows by decades the proportion of 
immigrants coming into the United States from the various 
countries of the Old World : 



Country 



Austria-Hungary . . . . 

German Empire . . . . 

Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia . 

Russian Empire and Fin- 
land 

United Kingdom : 

England 

Ireland 

Other Countries . . . 



Years 



1861-1870 1871-1 



Per cent 
0.33 

35-00 
•51 

.02 
38.00 

26.14 



Per cent 
2.60 

25.50 
2.00 

1.90 

15.60 
15-50 
36.90 



i»ai-i89o 



Per cent 
6.70 

28.00 
5-90 

4.40 

12.00 
12.00 
31.00 



1-1900 1901-1910 



Per cent 
16.00 
14.00 
18.00 

14.00 

6.00 
10.00 
22.00 



Per cent 
24.40 

3-90 
23.30 

18.20 

4.40 

' 3-90 
21.90 



IMMIGRATION 



SOI 



The Later Immigrants Settle in the Cities. — The change in 
the nationahty of the immigrants was accompanied by a 
great change in the United States itself; namely, the end 
of free gifts of 
land in the West. 
Between 1850 
and i860, out of 
the public lands 
there could have 
been provided 
nearly four hun- 
dred acres for 
every immigrant 
who entered the 
United States, 
and at least half 
of this land 
would have been 
fertile soil. By 
1906, however, 
the amount of 
available public 
land per immi- 
grant had fallen 
to less than sev- 
enty acres, a 
large part of 
which was semi- 
arid and conse- 
quently worthless without irrigation. In this period, 
therefore, the opportunities for securing free farms were 
almost closed to the immigrants from Europe. 

The newcomers had to settle in cities. The Russian 
Jews entered the ready-made garment trade in great centers 




Mulberry Street, New York, Where Many 
Immigrants Have Collected 



502 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

like New York, Rochester, and Chicago. Hungarians, 
ItaHans, Slovaks, and Poles took up heavy tasks Hke 
mining and iron working, which called for more physical 
strength. Immigrants during this period built the rail- 
roads, developed the mines, manned the coke ovens and 
blast furnaces, made clothing, and, in fact, furnished the 
labor for most of the manufacturing in the country. 

The immense and valuable labor services rendered by the 
aliens, men and women, are thus eloquently summed up 
by a modern writer who represents the immigrant as saying: 

I contribute eighty-five per cent of all the labor in the slaughtering 

and meat-packing industries. 
I do seven tenths of the bituminous coal mining. 
I do seventy-eight per cent of all the work in the woolen mills. 
I contribute nine tenths of all the labor in the cotton mills. 
I make nineteen twentieths of all the clothing. 
I manufacture more than half the shoes. 
I build four fifths of all the furniture. 
I make half of the collars, cufFs and shirts. 
I turn out four fifths of all the leather. 
I make half the gloves. 

I refine nearly nineteen twentieths of the sugar. 
I make half of the tobacco and cigars. 

Enormous Increase in Immigration. — A third great 
change in immigration was brought about by the im- 
provement in the methods of travel. In former days, 
when the journey was long, expensive, and hazardous, 
the emigrants expected to leave their native land forever 
and to find permanent homes in the United States. When, 
however, it became possible to cross the Atlantic very 
comfortably, at a low cost, in six or seven days, and 
there were sailings every few hours, the ocean trip was a 
light matter. Great steamship companies, practically all 
of them foreign in ownership and utterly indifferent to the 
effects of their actions on America, began to force im- 



IMMIGRATION 



503 



migration. They sent agents into every nook and cranny of 
Europe with orders to encourage, even by gross misrepre- 
sentation, every person who could scrape together a httle 
money to migrate to " the land of milk and honey." Ameri- 
can railway companies, equally bent on making profits by 
carrying immigrants West and South, eagerly cooperated 




Percentage of Foreign-Born White People and Native White People of 
Foreign or Mixed Parentage Combined in the Total Population 



in tearing the laborers and peasants of Europe from their 
native lands and flinging them upon our shores. 

As a result of all these forces, the steerage of every in- 
coming steamer was crowded with passengers. In 1907 
there arrived in this country 1,285,349 immigrants. Thus, 
in one year, there was collected from the nations of southern 
and eastern Europe an army of immigrants equal to almost 
half of the white population of the United States when the 
War for Independence was fought. By 1910 one third of 
the total white population in the United States was either 
foreign born or of foreign parentage. 



504 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Many of the Later Immigrants Not Permanent Set- 
tlers. — Having brought their ships over crowded with 
steerage passengers, the steamship companies were equally 
anxious to find passengers to fill their vessels on the return 
voyage. Their prosperity depended upon a continual going 
and coming. The low rates made it possible for work- 




A View of a City Slum 



ingmen to come in the busy season and return in the 
slack season. This had a very serious effect upon citizen- 
ship in the United States. Thousands of men, leaving 
their wives and children behind them, came with no 
thought of giving up their allegiance to their former coun- 
tries or of making homes in the United States. Their sole 
interest in this country was to get a job for a few months 
or a few years, and go back home when they had accumulated 
a little money. Having no intention of settling here perma- 
nently, they were willing to endure slums, long hours of 
work, and other conditions bad for their health and morals. 



IMMIGRATION 505 

Having no permanent interest in this country, they did not 
care whether it was well or poorly governed. 



III. Later Efforts to Restrict Immigration 

Arguments for and against the Restriction of Immigration. — 
Native Americans early protested against the wide-open door 
for immigrants. Some of the objections which they ad- 
vanced were foolish and some were wise ; some were narrow 
and selfish ; others were based, not on ill will toward the 
alien, but on the desire to make America a united nation, 
well governed and prosperous. 

At the same time there were advocates of the wide-open 
door who objected to interference with immigration. Em- 
ployers insisted that the supply of labor should be large 
and available as needed. Those who, like the Jews, had 
fled from persecution, were anxious that the door should not 
be closed against their countrymen yet to come. Advocates 
of freedom, looking upon America as " the asylum for the 
oppressed of every land," declared that it would be giving 
up our ancient principles to place bars in the way of the 
immigrant. 

Nevertheless the protest against unrestricted immigra- 
tion steadily grew. Anxiety about the matter appeared 
before the Civil War. It weakened with the demand of 
mill, mine, and railroad owners for labor. In a few years 
it grew stronger. Native American workingmen, East and 
West, began to demand protection against the foreigners 
who at lower wages took their places away from them. 
They urged that it was selfish and un-American to enact 
tariffs to shield American mill-owners against European 
competition, and at the same time to refuse to shield 
American labor against low-paid foreigners. Other citi- 
zens urged that the number of immigrants should not be 



5o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

too large, because it took time for foreigners to learn our 
language and to know enough about our country to share 
wisely in its government. 

Laws Restricting Immigration. — When the Federal Gov- 
ernment began to give attention to the matter, the Chinese 
were considered first. By a law of 1870 they were denied 
the right to become naturalized American citizens. In 
1880, a treaty was made with China under which Chinese 
laborers could be excluded from the country, and two years 
later the first Chinese Exclusion act was passed. 

In 1882 Congress discussed the whole question of 
immigration and passed a law whereby convicts (except 
political refugees), lunatics, idiots, and persons liable to 
become pubhc charges were excluded from the country, 
and the owners of vessels were required to carry back at 
their own expense such persons. 

Other laws were later enacted for the purpose of con- 
trolling immigration. In 1888 importation of laborers 
under contract was prohibited ; that is, the old practice 
authorized by the law of 1864 was forbidden. This made 
it impossible for large importers of labor to break strikes 
and reduce wages by sending agents to Europe to col- 
lect workers. In 1891 persons having loathsome or conta- 
gious diseases were denied the right of admission to the 
country. Later, anarchists were excluded. In 1907 an ar- 
rangement was made with Japan for excluding Japanese 
laborers. In 191 3, when the Department of Labor was 
created at Washington, the supervision of immigration and 
naturalization and the enforcement of immigration laws 
were turned over to it. In 191 7 Congress enacted, over 
President Wilson's veto, a law imposing an educational test, 
which was designed to keep out illiterates and to reduce the 
number of immigrants. 



IMMIGRATION 507 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. How large would the population of the United States 
have been in 1900 if no immigrants had been admitted to the 
country after the Revolution ? 2. Chiefly from what countries 
did the immigrants come before the Civil War ? 3. In what way 
did the Homestead Law influence immigrants ? What other 
law was passed that encouraged immigrants to seek homes in 
this country ? 4. From what countries did the immigrants come 
in largest numbers immediately after the Civil War ? 

II. I. What changes in immigration began about 1890? 

2. Why did the coming of large numbers of immigrants from south- 
ern Europe raise problems that had not confronted the country 
when the immigrants came chiefly from northern Europe ? 

3. Why did the immigrants after 1890 settle chiefly in the cities 
and the industrial districts ? 4. How and why did the steam- 
ship and railroad companies encourage immigration ? 5. What 
are the important diff^erences between immigrants who come to 
make permanent homes and those who come merely to earn 
money and then return to their native countries ? 

III. I. What groups of people protested against unrestricted 
immigration ? For what reasons .? Why did other groups wish 
to continue free immigration ? 2. Why were the first restric- 
tions on immigration aimed at the Chinese.? 3. What other 
restrictions were made later .? 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Find what kinds of immigrants have come to your locality 
in recent years, whence they came, and in what types of work 
they are chiefly engaged. 

2. The text states that the law which requires immigrants to 
meet an educational test (that is, to show that they are able to 
read at least their own language) was passed by Congress over 
the veto of President Wilson. Discuss in class the advantages 
and disadvantages of an educational test for immigrants. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 

I. Competition in Business Leads to the Formation 

OF "Trusts" 

The Great Industrial Trusts. — In the rush to develop the 
country in every direction, competition among business men 
became so keen that many of them were forced into bank- 
ruptcy. For example, there were several hundred refiners 
in the oil business, all of them turning out oil products in 
feverish haste. In time, of course, the market was clogged, 
prices fell, and many of the refiners were ruined. The 
destructive nature of this conflict, coupled with the desire 
to make larger profits by raising prices or reducing costs, led 
business men to form agreements or combinations known 
as " trusts." The term was applied because it was the 
practice of the men who united their concerns to place them 
in the hands of " trustees," chosen by the stockholders, 
and charged with the management of the entire business. 

The Standard Oil Interests. — As early as 1879, oil pro- 
ducers in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and other 
places began to agree among themselves on prices. In 
1882, under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller, they 
formed a " trust " which is known as the Standard Oil 
Company. Six years after its formation the Company was 
paying to a small group of holders about $20,000,000 annu- 
ally, in dividends, on a capital of $90,000,000. 

508 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 509 

Those who took part in this early combination soon be- 
gan to invest in other concerns. In i879oneof them became 
a director of the Valley Railroad ; in 1882 another was elected 
a director of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad ; 
in 1887 a third became connected with a syndicate which 
absorbed the Minnesota Iron Company; and about the 
same time representatives of the Oil Trust appeared in 
the Northern Pacific, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, and 
the Ohio River railways. The same thing happened in the 
case of the stockholders of other companies, until scores of 
business concerns were brought together in one gigantic 
interest of which the Standard Oil Company was the center. 

Other Trusts. — Within a few years after the estabKshment 
of the Standard Oil Company, combinations were formed in 
cotton oil. Unseed oil, lead, sugar, whiskey, and cordage ; and 
in a little time a few great financiers had large shares of stock 
in the companies manufacturing staples like iron and 
woolen goods. Indeed, by the close of the nineteenth cen- 
tury there was scarcely an industry of any importance which 
did not have a trust possessing enormous capital. For 
example, the Copper Trust, incorporated in New Jersey 
in 1899, had a capital of ^175,000,000 within five years. 
The United States Steel Corporation, founded in 1901, led 
them all with its capital of ^1,400,000,000. 

Railroad Combinations. — The tendency toward the union 
of companies appeared also in the railroad business. Com- 
peting lines were often united under the same company to 
control freight and passenger rates, and great combinations 
were formed to purchase trunk lines through from the East 
to the West or from the North to the South. 

By the close of the century there were several huge 
railroad combinations which controlled nearly all the 
important long lines in the United States. These were-the 
Boston and Maine and the New York, New Haven, and Hart- 



510 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ford in New England ; the New York Central (Vanderbilt 
lines) and the Pennsylvania in the Middle States, running 
from the seaboard to Chicago and the Mississippi ; the 
Gould lines running from Buffalo through Kansas City to 
Salt Lake and the Pacific Coast ; the Morgan-Hill lines in 
the South and in the far Northwest ; and the Harriman 
lines stretching from the middle Mississippi Valley to San 
Francisco, Portland, and Spokane, and from New Orleans 
to San Francisco. 

The "Captains of Industry." — Out of the trusts and 
combinations great fortunes were made. Andrew Carnegie, 
John D. Rockefeller, the Goulds and the Vanderbilts, to 
mention only a few, acquired riches such as had not been 
dreamed of before in the history of the world. Through 
their wealth they were able to control the life and labor of 
milHons of men and women. They endowed schools, 
founded universities, built hospitals and libraries, and sup- 
ported charities. 



II. The Results of Combinations of Capital 

The " Soulless Corporation." — The growth of large com- 
panies seriously altered the relation of employers and work- 
men. In the old days when the factory was small and was 
owned by one man, or at best a few men who lived near 
by, there was usually a certain personal and friendly tie be- 
tween the employer and his employees. Sometimes the 
master actually worked in the factory side by side with 
his helpers and knew them by their first names. As the 
factories grew in size and passed into the ownership of 
companies — the members of which often lived in distant 
cities or even foreign countries — the plants were managed 
by overseers, and the personal relation between employer 
and employee was broken. People came to speak of 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 511 

corporations as " soulless." By that it was meant that 
they were purely business enterprises, and that the owners 
could not be reached by the employees struggling for better 
wages or shorter hours. 

Protective Organizations of Employees. — While employers 
were combining their industries to stop destructive compe- 
tition, workingmen were building up unions to prevent 
undercutting in wages. During the war, labor was scarce 
and wages high. A strong movement was therefore started 
to organize workingmen for the purpose of upholding 
the high wage scale. The Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers was estabhshed in 1863, and the following year 
unions were formed among cigar makers, bricklayers, and 
masons. By 1866 thirty or forty different trades were 
formed into national unions, with branches all over the 
country. In 1870 and 1871 national labor-union con- 
ventions were held and attempts were made to create a 
strong society embracing all the workingmen and women of 
every trade. 

The " Knights of Lahor.'^ — The task of forming the great 
national union was undertaken by " The Noble Order of 
Knights of Labor," founded in 1869 by a group of Phila- 
delphia garment workers who wanted to unite all wage- 
earners in one body, without any distinctions of sex, 
trade, grade, color, or nationality. Within fifteen years, 
this organization had over 1,000,000 members. 

The demands of the Knights of Labor were : (i) an eight- 
hour day for all working people, (2) laws guaranteeing them 
healthful and safe conditions in factories and mines, (3) 
weekly payment of wages in money, (4) payment of damages 
by employers to workers injured in industry, (5) the es- 
tablishment of state and national labor bureaus, and other 
reforms. The Knights of Labor protested against the 
practice of state governments in hiring out prisoners to 



512 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

manufacturers and thus cutting the wages of honest people. 
They protested also against employers bringing in large num- 
bers of European immigrants under contract (see page 498) 
in order to reduce home wages. The motto of the organiza- 
tion was : " An injury to one is the concern of all." 

The Knights of Labor had great influence on the working 
people of the country. Although they did not start a new 
political party, they helped to secure from state and na- 
tional governments several reforms. The Knights also led 
in several successful strikes against employers to increase 
wages ; but they failed in a number of them. They then 
began to quarrel among themselves, and finally their national 
union went to pieces. 

The American Federation of Labor. — Meanwhile, a second 
national labor organization, the " American Federation of 
Labor," was growing up. It was started in 1881, with the 
federation of unions in about one hundred diff'erent trades, 
and five years later took the name it now bears. The 
Federation, unlike the Knights of Labor, did not attempt 
to form into one grand union all sorts and conditions 
of working people. It began with the separate trades to 
organize men and women into district " locals," and it per- 
mitted the members of each trade to conduct their own 
negotiations with their employers. The Federation inter- 
vened only in emergencies. It did not undertake general 
strikes of all working people in order to help those of a 
single trade or locality. 

By 1917 the American Federation of Labor had 2,359,812 
dues-paying members. It had accumulated large sums of 
money. Under the leadership of its president, Samuel 
Gompers, it won much power over wages and hours of labor 
in the industries of the country. 

The Federation s Influe^ice on Politics. — Although the 
American Federation of Labor did not organize a separate 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 513 

political party, it often brought influence to bear upon the 
existing parties and compelled them to enact laws favorable 
to labor. For instance, in 1908 and 1912, Mr. Gompers 
asked the Republican and Democratic parties to support 
certain laws which the workers demanded. When the 
former party refused, and the latter made the desired 
promises, he asked the members of the American Fed- 
eration to vote solidly for the Democratic candidate for 
President. Mr. Gompers boasted that eighty per cent of 
the voting members of his Federation cast their ballots for 
the Democratic candidate. Whether or not this estimate 
is accurate, it is certain that after the election of Mr. 
Wilson in 191 2, the Democratic party passed some of the 
laws which the Federation of Labor had demanded. Thus, 
by threatening to use the labor vote for or against one or 
the other of the political parties, the Federation was able to 
secure a number of its measures. When the Department of 
Labor was created in 191 3, an ofl&cer of the Federation was 
appointed as the head and was given a seat in the 
President's cabinet. 

Employers' Organizations' — While the trade unions in- 
creased in number and power, the employers of labor were 
forming organizations for the purpose of resisting the de- 
mands of labor. As early as 1825 an employers' association 
was formed in Boston, pledged to " drive the shipwrights, 
calkers, and gravers to submission or starvation." In 1872 
more than four hundred employers organized a national 
association to oppose the attempt to establish a ten-hour 
day. After that time many other employers' associa- 
tions sprang up. In 1903 there was established the Citi- 
zens' Industrial Association of America, a union of several 
national associations. Somewhat later the National Manu- 
facturers' Association was founded. It employed agents 
to block the eflForts of working people to secure laws in their 

2L 



514 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



own interests, whenever such laws were considered injurious 
to employers. 

III. The Great Strikes 

Industrial Disputes. The Strikes of i8jy and 1888. — As 
employers and employees began to line up against each 
other, there arose many a costly and tragic struggle. In 
1877 an appalling railway strike on the Pennsylvania and 
other lines resulted in the destruction of millions of dollars' 
worth of property, including the railroad station at Pitts- 
burgh. A few years later a veritable civil war broke out 
at the Carnegie iron works at Homestead, Pennsylvania. 
There was heavy loss of life on both sides, many of the 
strikers being killed by Pinkerton detectives employed by 
the mill owners. In 1888 strikes in Chicago manufactur- 
ing establishments led to collisions between police and 
workingmen, and ended in the famous Haymarket riot in 
which several policemen were killed by bombs. In the Far 
West, particularly in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, miners 
and their employers were almost constantly engaged in com- 
bats over hours and wages, which were frequently accom- 
panied by dynamite outrages, murders, and general lawless- 
ness on the part of both contestants. 

The Strike of i8g4. — In 1894 there occurred the most 
alarming railway strike of the period. The employees of the 
Pullman Car Company at Chicago struck, and the American 
Railway Union, in order to help them, called a " sympa- 
thetic strike." In this dispute property was destroyed. The 
leader of the railway men, Eugene V. Debs, was imprisoned 
for disobeying a court injunction commanding workingmen 
not to interfere with the business of the companies. Finally, 
against the protests of the governor of Illinois, President 
Cleveland dispatched federal troops to the scene of trouble 
and the strike was broken. 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 515 

The Public and the Government Involved. — For a long 
time, it was generally maintained that such conflicts were 
mere incidents in industry and concerne<i only employers 
and employees. Gradually this view disappeared. Strikes 




The Arbitration Commission Appointed by President Roosevelt to Settle 
THE Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 
From left to right: Colonel Carroll D. Wright, Statistician; Mr. Thomas H. 
Watkins, Coal Operator; General John M. Wilson, U. S. A. ; U. S. Senator George 
Gray of Delaware ; Mr. Edward Parker, U. S. Geological Survey ; Mr. Edward E. 
Clark, Chief of the Order of Railway Conductors; Most Rev. John Lancaster 
Spalding, Bishop of Peoria. 



clearly involved the public at large as well as the actual 
combatants. When railways were tied up and mines closed, 
the public suffered. When disorders occurred, the lives and 
property of outside parties were endangered. 

Then, too, there were many questions involving the govern- 
ment, federal and state, directly. How far should the courts 
be permitted to go in ordering employees to do this or abstain 
from doing that in connection with strikes ^ Under what 



5l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

conditions should the militia or federal troops be called 
out, and what should they be permitted to do when called 
out ? To what extent should the police be allowed to inter- 
fere with meetings held to help strikers ? What should 
strikers be allowed to do to persuade other workers not to 
take their jobs ? Should labor unions be given the right to 
exclude non-union men from any industry and thus main- 
tain a " closed shop '' ? 

The Demand from the Public for an Adjustment of Labor 
Disputes. — Many proposals were advanced with a view to 
solving the problem of strikes and labor disputes. In 1900 
there was formed the American Civic Federation to bring 
together employers, professional people, philanthropists, 
and representatives of trade unions. The Federation recog- 
nized the right of working people to form unions and sought 
to make the disputes arising between employers and em- 
ployees a subject for common consideration. Many citizens 
who had formerly denounced trade unions came to see in 
them an inevitable product of industrial progress. Mem- 
bers of all political parties were also forced to listen to their 
demands. Moreover it became a matter of grave pubHc con- 
cern whether any employers in the United States should 
be allowed to pay wages so low that their employees could 
not live decently and become respectable American citizens. 
Thus the public at large began to be deeply interested in the 
conflict between employers and employees. 

Roosevelt's Policy. — Public interest in labor disputes 
became especially evident in the anthracite coal strike of 
1902. The employers refused to listen to the demands of 
the miners, and as winter came on the country was con- 
fronted by a coal famine. As President Roosevelt said : 

The big coal operators had banded together and positively 
refused to take any steps looking toward an accommodation [with 
their employees]. They knew that the suffering among the miners 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 517 

was great ; they were confident that if order were kept and nothing 
further was done by the government they would win, and they 
refused to consider that the public had any rights in the matter. 
. . . No man and no group of men can so exercise their rights 
as to deprive the nation of the things which are necessary and 
vital to the common life. A strike which ties up the coal supplies 
of a whole section is a strike invested with a public interest. 

President Roosevelt was ready to use the soldiers to take 
possession of the mines and have the government run them, 
in order to supply the country w^ith coal. He appointed 
a commission to consider the demands of the miners and the 
claims of the employers. As a result, a settlement of the 
strike was reached. This affair may be said to mark a turn 
in the course of labor disputes, because the general public 
at last realized that it had an interest in, and a certain 
responsibility for, a struggle between employers and em- 
ployees. The public slowly learned that its responsibility 
involved supporting the demand for wholesome labor con- 
ditions. 

IV. The Rise of Socialism 

Many of the leaders in the labor movements became 
convinced that strikes, even when successful in raising wages 
or reducing hours of work, would not remove all the 
poverty and misery which accompanied the growth of in- 
dustry. They, therefore, urged the formation of a politi- 
cal party which would bring about radical legislation in 
the interest of labor. As early as 1872 a party known as 
Labor Reformers held a convention at Columbus, Ohio, and 
nominated a candidate for President. 

The Rise of the Socialists. — Two decades later there ap- 
peared in the country a socialistic party which appealed 
particularly to working people. While there was much dif- 
ference of opinion among Socialists as to their plans, there 



51 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

were certain general ideas running through their writings : 
(i) Modern industry necessarily creates a division in the 
country into capitalists on the one hand, who own the fac- 
tories, mines, and railways; and on the other hand a great 
mass of people, owning no tools, and solely dependent upon 
their labor for Hvehhood. (2) A struggle between these two 
classes is inevitable, because each seeks to secure all that it 
can from the annual output of wealth. (3) Out of this con- 
test the owners of capital gain wealth, luxury, and safety ; 
and the workers, poverty, slums, hazard, and misery. 

The Socialists all agreed that the only solution of the 
problem was for the government to take possession of the 
natural resources and industries, forests, mines, railways, 
and factories, from which the rich were able to make such 
large fortunes, and to manage these great enterprises for the 
benefit of all. This meant a drastic interference with all 
private business and government ownership on a large 
scale. The Socialists did not propose, as persons some- 
times imagined, to divide up all property equally among the 
people. As an example of their theory they cited the post- 
office, which is owned by the government and in the use 
of which all share alike. It is not " divided up." 

Opposition to Socialist Theories. — The Socialists were 
strongly opposed by the other political parties, although 
many of the evils which they pointed out were admitted. 
Those who attacked Socialism said that it would be im- 
possible for the government to own and manage the in- 
dustries and employ so many millions of working people ; 
that if everybody were turned into a government em- 
ployee and deprived of the right to make personal profits, 
no one would be interested in inventing new machinery or 
establishing new enterprises. 

It was pointed out also that it would be difficult for the 
government to distribute the annual national income, in a 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 519 

fair and satisfactory manner, among those who labored at 
the various industries and occupations. If all were to share 
equally — the able and the stupid, the idle and the indus- 
trious — what incentive would there be for any individual 
to exercise his skill and energy ? On the other hand, if 
incomes were to be unequal, according to what rules should 
the shares be apportioned ? Many opponents of Socialism 
said that the Socialist notion, that all people could dwell 
together in harmony and cooperation, was contrary to the 
laws of nature, which decreed a constant struggle among 
mankind in which the weak were bound to lose and the strong 
destined to win. 

The Growth of the Socialist Party. — There were many 
Socialists in the country before i860, particularly among 
the German immigrants who came over in 1848. It was 
not until 1892 that a Socialist Labor party was formed and 
a candidate nominated for President. This party, however, 
never polled as high as a hundred thousand votes. It 
had been in existence only eight years when a second 
party, known as the Socialist party, was established. The 
new party in 1900 nominated for its candidate Eugene 
V. Debs, the leader of the great railway strike of 1894. 
By 191 2 the Socialist popular vote had reached 898,000; 
but in 1916 it fell about twenty per cent. The refusal of 
the party, 191 7, to support our war on Germany led many 
members to resign and discredited Socialist doctrines unre- 
lated to the war. 

New Aspects of the Capital and Labor Problem. — The 
twentieth century opened with the extension of conflicts 
between employers and employees into the field of govern- 
ment and politics. Both sides were powerfully organized. 
It is true that only a small proportion of the working people 
were actually members of trade unions — fewer than one 
tenth — and hundreds of small manufacturers remained 



520 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

outside of employers' associations ; but in nearly all the 
great staple industries and the railways, strong organi- 
zations of labor and capital were in command. More 
and more their contests over wages and hours involved 
governmental action. All kinds of laws for the benefit and 
protection of both sides were proposed — the just and 
the unjust, the wise and the foolish. Political parties were 
urged to indorse them. State legislatures and Congress 
were besieged by agents of trade unions and em- 
ployers supporting or opposing the various measures. The 
citizens at large were inevitably drawn into the controversies. 
In spite of the counsels of those who declared that indus- 
try was none of the government's concern, the voters at 
the polls were called upon to decide a multitude of matters 
involving labor and capital. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What led to the combination of business concerns ? 
How did these combinations come to be known as "trusts" ? 
2. Why did these trusts, once established, tend to reach out and 
gather up other lines of business ? In what kinds of business 
other than oil production did the Standard Oil Company become 
interested ? 3. Name some of the other great trusts. 4. Name 
some of the "captains of industry." 

II. I. Why did the growth of trusts lead to labor troubles.? 
What is meant by a "soulless corporation" .? 2. What did the 
worklngmen do to protect their rights ? What did the Knights 
of Labor hope to accomplish ? 3. How does the American 
Federation of Labor differ from the older Knights of Labor ? 
Who is the leader of the Federation of Labor ? What important 
things has the Federation accomplished .? 4. How did the em- 
ployers try to block the efforts of the workers ? 

III. I. What is meant by a "strike"? Where did some of 
the early strikes occur ? 2. Why did the public claim a right to 
interfere in the conflict between capital and labor? 3. What 



COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 521 

was President Roosevelt's policy regarding the rights of the 
public in this conflict ? 

IV. I. What is meant by "government ownership" ? What 
business enterprises does the government now control ? 2. What 
is the difference between government ownership and "dividing 
up" the wealth of the country equally among all of the people? 
3. What does the Socialist party hold regarding government 
ownership ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. Find out about the development of the oil industry, — 
where petroleum is found, how it is brought out of the ground, 
taken to the refineries, and made into useful products. Make 
a list of the principal products. Give as many reasons as you 
can explaining why the oil industry was one of the first to be or- 
ganized into a "trust." 

Your geographies (look up the subject in the index) will give 
you much information about petroleum and its products. See 
also Mowry's "American Inventors and Inventions," pp. 77-80. 

2. Look up the story of one of the great railroad systems. 
Discuss in class the advantages and dangers of combining short 
railroad lines into large systems. 

Brigham's "From Trail to Railway" has interesting chapters 
on the New York Central (ch. v), the Pennsylvania (ch. vii), and 
the Baltimore and Ohio (ch. ix). 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 

I. The Republican and Democratic Administrations 

Political Echoes of the Civil War. — For a long time 
after the Civil War, the politicians discussed principally 
" the Confederacy " and " the Rebellion." War talk was 
called "waving the bloody shirt," and as the leaders in 
politics devoted much time to it, it was difficult for the 
voters to think of anything else as more important. 

The Republican Party in Power. — With Southern leader- 
ship broken and the Democratic party accused of having 
sympathized with secession, the Repubhcans had many ad- 
vantages. They were able to carry every presidential elec- 
tion, except two, between i860 and 191 2. Shortly after 
the war they selected as their candidate General Grant, 
who was regarded as a great hero and, next to Lincoln, 
the savior of the Union. They elected him President in 
1868; in 1872 reelected him, the Democrats h^tving at- 
tempted a stroke in choosing as their candidate Horace 
Greeley, the famous Republican editor of the New York 
Tribune. 

The Hayes-Tilden Campaign. — In the midst of defeat, 
however, the Democrats never gave up hope. They made 
such a vigorous fight in 1872 that they secured a majority 
in the House of Representatives, and in the presidential 
campaign of 1876 they thought that they had carried 
the day. Indeed, the result of the election was very um- 

522 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 



523 



certain. Both parties claimed the victory, and the dispute 
grew so serious that Congress, to settle the quarrel, ap- 
pointed a commission of fifteen members to examine the 
election returns. On this commission, the Republicans 
had a majority who voted solidly on important points in 
favor of the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, 
of Ohio, thus giving him the victory over Samuel J. Tilden, 
the Democratic candidate from New York. 

Garfield Elected and Assassinated. — Naturally the Dem- 
ocrats were deeply angered with the decision, but they 
accepted it, hoping that the country would rebuke 
their opponents in the next campaign. In this, however, 
they were disappointed, because the Republicans in 1880 
elected James A. Garfield by a safe majority over the 
Democratic candidate. General Hancock. President Gar- 
field had hardly taken office before 
he was shot by a disappointed 
office-seeker ; he died on Septem- 
ber 19, 1881. 

Cleveland Brings the Democrats 
into Power (1885). — Garfield's 
successor, the Vice President, 
Chester A. Arthur, was not able to 
win the united support of his own 
party, and in 1884 the Republicans 
brushed him aside, selecting as 
their candidate James G. Blaine of 
Maine. The Democrats savagely attacked Blaine and 
won a victory for their leader, Grover Cleveland, of New 
York, the first Democratic President since Buchanan's day. 
The triumph was a narrow one, however, and due not so 
much to the popularity of Cleveland as to a division in 
Republican ranks. Indeed, several prominent Republicans 
openly went over to the Democrats. On account of their 




Grover Cleveland 



524 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

desertion they were called " mugwumps '* — from an Indian 
term meaning " big chief." It was alleged that the mug- 
wumps felt themselves above the ordinary man who voted 
regularly with his party. 

Cleveland Defeated by Harrison (1888) but Reelected in 
1892. — The Democrats, having carried the country once 
with Cleveland as their candidate, put him forward in 1888 
and again in 1892. In the former year he was defeated by 
Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, the Republican candidate. 
In 1892 he was again elected President, over Harrison, by a 
very substantial majority. 

The Return of the Republicans. McKinley, Roosevelt, 
Taft. — This proved to be the last Democratic victory for 
twenty years. In the next campaign, 1896, William Mc- 
Kinley, of Ohio, was victorious over the Democratic candi- 
date, William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, and the Re- 
publicans were returned to power on March 4, 1897. They 
retained the presidency through the administrations of 
McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft, until the inauguration of 
Wilson in 1913. 



II. The Tariff and the Income Tax 

The Tariff Issue since the Civil War. The Protective 
Tariff. — During all these administrations. Republican and 
Democratic alike, certain questions, or "issues " as they are 
called, stood foremost in the minds of the voters. The first 
of these was the tariff (p. 247). Just before the Civil War, 
the Democrats had succeeded in reducing the protective 
tariff very materially, and the Republicans, in i860, had 
taken up the challenge by declaring in favor of protection. 
During the war heavy duties were levied upon imports for 
the sake of raising money to meet military expenses. After 
the war the Republicans kept many of these duties, on the 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 525 

ground that they protected the manufacturing industries 
of the country. 

The question was discussed more or less in every campaign 
between i860 and 1916, and it became what the poHticians 
called a "burning issue" in 1888, 1892, and 1908. Presi- 
dent Cleveland in a message to Congress in December, 
1887, vigorously attacked the tariff. He denounced it as a 
" vicious and illegal and inequitable " system of taxation. 
In 1908 Mr. Bryan led in another spirited attack upon it. 
The Democratic platform declared in favor of the im- 
mediate reduction of import duties, particularly on the ne- 
cessities of life and articles made in tlie United States by 
the great trusts. 

The Various Tariff Bills. — In spite of all the agitation 
about the tariff, there were only six revisions of the customs 
duties between General Grant's second inauguration in 
1873 and the close of President Wilson's first administra- 
tion in 1917. These revisions were as follows : in 1883, 
under a Republican, President Arthur; in 1890, when Mc- 
Kinley, then a member of Congress from Ohio, introduced a 
very high protective measure which bears his name ; in 1894, 
during President Cleveland's administration, when a sHght 
reduction was made by the Wilson-Gorman Act in the duties 
on several important articles; in 1897, when the Dingley 
Tariff Act, passed by the Republicans, placed the duties in 
general at the highest point since the Civil War; in 1909, 
when the Republicans, in the Payne-Aldrich bill, made a 
general revision without material reductions ; and, finally, 
in 191 3, when the Democrats, under President Wilson's 
leadership, reduced the taxes on a large number of imports 
without, by any means, placing the tariff on a purely 
** revenue basis." 

The Agitation for an Income Tax. — Closely connected 
with the problem of the tariff was the matter of the income 



526 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

tax — a tax taking a percentage of the income received by 
all persons, excepting those whose incomes were below a cer- 
tain amount. During the Civil War the government had 
laid a tax upon incomes temporarily. Later, as the 
Democrats began to urge tariff revision, they declared that 
when duties were taken off the imports into the United 
States the loss of revenues should be made up by taxes 
on incomes. Some of them said that customs duties on 
sugar, coffee, tea, and the like were taxes upon poor people, 
based on the amount of goods consumed, not on incomes or 
wages — " ability to pay." They urged, therefore, that a 
part of the federal revenue should be derived from a direct 
tax on the well-to-do. 

The Income Tax Declared Unconstitutional. — Accord- 
ingly when the Democrats revised the tariff, in 1894, they 
provided for a tax on every person having an income of more 
than $4000 a year. The next year, however, the Supreme 
Court of the United States declared the law to be null 
and void as violating the Constitution — much to the 
anger of the friends of the measure. In 1896 the Demo- 
crats put in their platform a plank favoring a tax on in- 
comes, and their leaders never ceased to advocate it. 

The Constitution Amended to Permit an Income Tax. — 
Many Republicans also agreed that an income tax was 
just and desirable, and President Roosevelt, in one of his 
messages, expressed himself in favor of it. In 1909, while 
the Republicans were in power. Congress passed the Six- 
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States, authorizing Congress to lay and collect income 
taxes. This amendment was duly ratified by a sufficient 
number of state legislatures and went into effect in 1913. 
The Democrats, once more in power, immediately took ad- 
vantage of the new amendment. In that very year, at the 
time of revising the tariff, Congress laid an income tax. 



I 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 527 

The Tariff Still an Issue. — As a result of all this 
agitation and legislation it could hardly be said that 
anything was definitely settled with regard to the tariff. 
The Democrats, while severely criticizing the protective 
system, were by no means agreed on abolishing all pro- 
tection for American manufacturers and producers. On 
the other hand, the Republicans, while in general favoring 
high tariff, often disagreed among themselves as to what 
industries should receive help. 

The Tariff Commission. — On account of this difference 
of opinion within as well as between the two parties, a 
tariff commission, composed of a few special students of 
the subject, was established under Taft's administration. 
It was instructed to find out just how far American goods 
should be protected against foreign competition in order to 
permit manufacturers to make only " fair " profits. Under 
President Wilson a new commission was established in 
1916. Thus it appeared that no political party favored 
the reduction of the tariff to such a point as to afford no 
aid at all to American manufacturers ; namely, absolute 
free trade. 

III. The Currency Problem 

The Redemption of the "Greenbacks." — Another public 
issue which occupied the attention of voters was the money 
problem. During the Civil War the government had 
issued many million dollars in paper money, known as 
" legal tender " or " greenbacks." This money, which 
was used to pay the soldiers and was received by the gov- 
ernment for taxes and other purposes, was not redeemable 
in gold or silver; that is, the holder of a greenback dollar 
could not go to the United States Treasury and get a gold 
or silver dollar in return for it. As a result, this money 
declined in value until a greenback dollar was worth only 



528 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

sixty or seventy cents in gold or silver. Some of the lead- 
ing men in the country favored the withdrawal of paper 
money altogether; others advocated continuing it in circu- 
lation ; and still others held that it should be placed on a 
specie basis, whereby anybody who had a paper dollar 
could secure a gold dollar in exchange for it. In 1879 
the greenbacks were made redeemable in coin. 

The Problem of Silver Money. Demonetization. — A second 
phase of the money problem was the coinage itself. 
The Constitution of the United States gave Congress the 
power to coin money, and forbade the states to make any- 
thing but gold or silver coin the lawful money in the pay- 
ment of debts. In 1792 the government began to coin 
these two metals at the ratio of 15 to i ; that is, on the 
theory that fifteen ounces of silver were worth one ounce 
of gold on the market. Later the ratio was changed to 
16 to I. Silver came to be worth more than this price, 
however, in the outside market in relation to gold ; and as 
a result silver dollars almost dropped out of circulation. In 
1873 Congress ceased making them, or demonetized them. 

The Demand for Remonetization. — It happened about 
this time that the price of silver began to decline steadily. 
Rich deposits were discovered in the western states and 
in a few years it took twenty-two ounces of silver to buy 
one ounce of gold on the market. The owners of silver 
mines, finding the price of their product falling, demanded 
that the government should restore the silver dollar, re- 
monetize it, by coining both gold and silver at the old ratio 
of 16 to I. The advocates of the gold standard said that 
silver had fallen in market price so that it was impossible 
to coin it on the old plan. The advocates of silver replied 
that silver had not fallen, but that gold had gone up be- 
cause the government had given it a monopoly and limited 
the market for silver. 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 529 

The Co7itroversy over the Silver Qitestion. — The country 
at large was sharply divided over this question. Quite 
commonly, the farmers favored the free coinage of silver 
at the old ratio because they thought it would put more 
money into circulation and raise the selling price of farm 
products. On the other hand, the gold standard was fa- 
vored largely by people who had money invested in busi- 
ness or in loans. 

The money lender said : 

If you increase the amount of money by coining silver dollars 
you really take money away from me. For example, I lent 
money at a time when an ounce of gold was worth seventeen 
or eighteen times an ounce of silver, and now you propose that I 
should be repaid in silver dollars worth much less than the original 
amount which I lent; that is, in money with less purchasing 
power. 

The farmer, on his part, replied : 

When I borrowed a thousand dollars on my farm, wheat was 
worth two dollars a bushel and I could pay the mortgage off with 
five hundred bushels ; but now the price of wheat has fallen to one 
dollar, and, as a result, although the amount I owe is still one 
thousand dollars, it is two thousand dollars measured in terms of 
my labor — the wheat which I have produced. 

The " Greenback " a7id " Populist " Parties. — Many 
farmers and those who sympathized with them decided to 
go into politics and force Congress to pass laws increasing 
the amount of money in circulation. In the late seventies 
they organized a short-lived party of their own known as 
the " Greenback party" which favored continuing the issue 
of paper money, "greenbacks." In 1892 they established 
the Populist party which declared for free silver. In that 
year their candidate for President polled more than a million 
votes. 



530 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




William McKinley 



The McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Bimetallism. — • 
This vote disturbed the RepubHcan and Democratic parties, 
for each was afraid that it could not win without the support 
of the discontented farmers. Many prominent RepubHcans 
believed in the free coinage of silver, or " bimetallism " as it 

was called ; but most of the free- 
silver advocates were Democrats. 
In 1896 the free-silver men were 
so numerous that they captured 
the Democratic party at the 
national convention at Chicago and 
nominated a young and courageous 
advocate of free silver, William 
Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska. The 
Republicans came out in favor 
of the gold standard. Then fol- 
lowed one of the hottest political 
campaigns in the history of the country. There had been 
nothing like it, except in 1800, 1828, and i860. The Re- 
publicans, with William McKinley as their candidate, were 
victorious. Four years later they passed a law making gold 
the standard for the whole monetary system of the United 
States. 

The " Federal Reserve" Banks. — Before many years had 
elapsed " the currency question '' came up again in a new 
form. The men who had previously advocated free silver 
held to their old contention (i) that the money of the 
country was too largely concentrated in the hands of east- 
ern capitalists, who could exact any rate of interest they 
pleased ; (2) that there was not enough money in circula- 
tion to meet the needs of the farmers and small business 
men ; and (3) that power over the whole monetary system 
was in the hands of private persons rather than of the gov- 
ernment. 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 



531 



Many leaders in both parties were dissatisfied with the 
system and demanded currency reform. In response to 
this demand, Congress in 191 3 passed a new banking law. 
Under this law the country was laid out into twelve great 
districts. In each district many banks were transformed 
into federal banks and one was selected as a Federal Reserve 
Bank. The control over the whole currency system was 
vested in a Federal Reserve Board, composed of the Secretary 



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of the Treasury, the Comptroller, and five men appointed 
by the President and the Senate, with the power to issue 
money on certain conditions, and thus " expand " or in- 
crease the currency from time to time. It was thought 
that the leading currency problems would be solved (a) by 
securing federal government control ; (b) by giving local 
banks a fair share in the management ; (c) by distributing 
the " money power " over all sections of the country, to 
prevent concentration in New York City ; and (d) by pro- 
viding for the issue and withdrawal of notes to meet the 
demands of business. 



532 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

IV. The Railroads ; the Trusts ; Civil Service Re- 
form ; THE Liquor Question 

Railway Regulation As a Political Problem. — A third 
great political question was the regulation of railways. At 
first the government had helped the railway companies with 
huge gifts of land and money, thus stimulating the rapid 
building of lines in all parts of the country. At the same 
time, the government had permitted the railroad managers 
to conduct their business in their own way — to issue worth- 
less stocks and bonds and sell them to the innocent public, 
and to charge high freight and passenger rates. 

There was accordingly much discontent among those who 
shipped goods or traveled. The farmers in the West, who 
depended almost entirely upon the railways for carrying 
their wheat, corn, live stock, and other produce to the dis- 
tant eastern markets, began to grumble about " the ex- 
tortions of railway companies." In the early seventies the 
farmers of several western states, among them Illinois and 
Wisconsin, forced the state legislatures to pass laws reduc- 
ing freight and passenger rates. A state, however, could 
regulate only the carrying of goods or passengers from one 
point to another within its borders. The control of inter- 
state commerce was given to the Congress of the United 
States under the Constitution. 

The Interstate Commerce Law {iSSf). — Pressure was, 
therefore, put upon Congress to provide for regulating rail- 
roads engaged in interstate business. In 1887 Congress 
passed an important law creating a commission of five mem- 
bers to be appointed by the President and Senate. By 
this law and various amendments in later years, it was pro- 
vided that the railroad rates should be reasonable and that 
the Interstate Commerce Commission should have the right 
to control the freight and passenger rates of all railroads en- 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 533 

gaged In interstate commerce. Thus a large power over 
the property of railroad companies was conferred upon the 
government commission. Many people called it a form of 
" socialism," because it amounted to such a drastic inter- 
ference with private business. It was clear from expe- 
rience, however, that the railroad companies could not be 
allowed to fix any rates they pleased and to run their 
business in their own way regardless of the public. The 
example of certain European governments which owned 
and operated the railways was cited by those who insisted 
that government regulation was only a mild form of public 
interference. On account of war conditions, the govern- 
ment, in December, 191 7, took over nearly all the rail- 
roads for the time. This was confirmed by a law passed 
early in 191 8, placing all railroads under government man- 
agement. 

Control of the Trusts a Political Problem. — A fourth 
issue akin to the railway question was that of control- 
ling the " trusts." The small business men who were 
driven to the wall by these great concerns, and farmers 
and other consumers who were compelled to pay high prices 
for manufactures began to denounce the trusts in violent 
language. As a result of the criticism. Congress, in 1890, 
passed a law known as the Sherman Act, which declared 
illegal every combination to restrain and control trade or 
commerce among the states or with foreign nations. 

A^iti'trust Legislation Generally Ineffective. — It was 
thought in this way that the government could break up 
the trusts by prosecuting the men who formed them. The 
law proved, however, to be a dead letter for many years, 
because almost no attempt was made to enforce It until 
the administrations of President Roosevelt and Presi- 
dent Taft. Then a number of great concerns, such as 
the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco 



534 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Company, were prosecuted and ordered dissolved into many 
smaller companies. This by no means solved the trust 
problem. Even after the Democrats, in 191 3, sought to 
make government control more severe by passing the Clay- 
ton Anti-trust Law, combinations and trusts continued 
to flourish as before. Competition among small business 
men, such as had formerly existed, was not restored. In 
1914 a Federal Trade Commission was formed to supervise 
business concerns to prevent unfair practices. 

Civil Service Reform. Evils of the " Spoils SystemJ^ — 
A fifth political issue was that of civil service reform. 
As a result of " the spoils system " (p. 255), the manage- 
ment of public business was often in the hands of in- 
experienced people, who served for short terms and whose 
positions were insecure.^ Moreover, in each political party 
there was always a large body of men whose principal 
ambition was to get paying offices in the government. 
These men took part in politics all the time, attending 
primaries and conventions, helping to nominate candi- 
dates and win elections. Politics became a trade by which 
men made their living. The politicians looked upon the 
government as their private property and resented the 
interference of plain citizens. Government service was re- 
garded, not as a dignified calling, but as mere spoils. 

Naturally, there was much disapproval of this state 
of affairs. The critics of the " spoils system " contended 
that the government service should be put on a merit 
basis; in other words, (i) that men and women should 
be appointed to the lower government offices only after 
passing examinations testing their fitness for such places, 
and (2) that after they were appointed they should not be 
removed on any other ground than that of neglect of duty 
or incapacity. The politicians ridiculed the idea and called 
it " snivel service " and " goody-goody reform." 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 



535 



Garfield's Assassination Arouses the Country to the Need 
of Reform. — In 1881, however, the attention of the entire 
country was forcibly drawn to the matter when President 
Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed office-seeker. 
Two years later Congress passed a civil service law (i) 
authorizing the President to appoint a commission to con- 
duct examinations for admission to the government service, 




Wet and Dry Territorial Map of the United States, April, 191^ 
White Indicates Prohibition Territory 



and (2) empowering him to designate, from time to time, 
groups and classes of federal offices that should be taken 
out of the spoils system and placed on the merit basis. 
From time to time Presidents increased the number of 
offices filled by examinations, and in 1916 out of more than 
four hundred thousand employees over half held positions sub- 
ject to competitive appointment. There were still left, how- 
ever, plenty of " jobs " to be distributed to party workers. 
The Liquor Question. — Attempts to prohibit the dis- 
tilling and sale of intoxicating liquors began more than 



536 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



half a century ago. In the decade between 1850 and 
i860, several states adopted prohibition. They all gave it 
up, however, in time, for one reason or another, and the 
temperance question was overshadowed by the slavery con- 
troversy. 

The Grozvth of the Prohibition Movement. — In a little 
while it reappeared. In 1869 the National Prohibition Re- 
form party was organized in Chicago, and in 1872 it nomi- 
nated a candidate for President of the United States. From 
that time forward the Prohibitionists entered every presi- 
dential election. Their vote was never large enough to 
promise success, though in one campaign it reached almost a 
quarter of a million. 

State after state, meanwhile, adopted prohibition : 



South Carolina 

South Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Virginia 

Washington 

West Virginia 



Alabama Michigan 

Arizona Mississippi 

Arkansas Montana 

Colorado Nebraska 

Georgia New Hampshire 

Idaho New Mexico 

Indiana North Carolina 

Iowa North Dakota 

Kansas Oklahoma 

Maine Oregon 

In other states great sections were made ** dry " by what 
is called local option ; that is, counties and towns by a 
popular vote decided to close saloons. An amendment to 
the federal constitution providing for national prohibition 
was passed by the required two-thirds vote of both houses 
of Congress, in December, 191 7, and sent to the states for 
ratification. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. Why did the Republicans have an advantage over the 
Democrats in national elections for a long time after the Civil 



PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 537 

War ? 2. What man succeeded Andrew Johnson as President ? 
3. How was the presidential campaign of 1876 decided ? 4. How 
did Arthur come to be President ? What other Presidents have 
come into office in this way? 5. Who was the first successful 
candidate of the Democratic party after the Civil War ? 6. Who 
were the "mugwumps" and why were they given this name? 
7. What man held the office of President from 1889 to 1893 ? 
Who were the Presidents between 1897 and 191 3 ? 

II. I. What position did the Democrats take regarding a 
protective tariff? What are the differences between a "pro- 
tective" tariff and a tariff "for revenue only" ? 2. What party 
was in power when the McKinley tariff bill became a law ? the 
Wilson-Gorman bill? the Dingley bill? 3. What important 
changes were made in the tariff during President Wilson's first 
administration ? 4. What is meant by an income tax ? When 
did the government first levy income taxes ? What were the 
provisions of the income-tax law of 1894? What party had 
secured the passage of this law? Why did it not go into effect ? 
5. How was the income-tax problem finally solved ? 6. In 
whose administration was the first tariff commission established ? 
What were to be the duties of this commission ? 

III. I. Why were the "greenbacks" issued ? How did they 
differ from the paper money that is used in this country to-day? 
Why did they depreciate in value ? During what preceding 
period in our history had the government issued paper money 
similar to the greenbacks ? (See Chapter XIV.) 2. How was the 
greenback problem finally solved? 3. What is meant by the 
statement that the government first coined silver at the "ratio 
of 15 to i" ? When the ratio was changed to "16 to i" did the 
silver miners receive more or less gold from the government for 
their product ? For what other purposes is silver used in addition 
to making coins ? What would be the effect if those who used 
silver in other ways offered the miners more than the government 
offered for making it into money ? 4. Suppose, however, that 
new mines were opened and that the supply of silver suddenly 
increased; what would happen to the price of silver in market? 
How did the actual ratio of silver to gold change when the new 
mines in the West began to produce large quantities of silver ? 
Why did the miners, then, wish to have the government buy silver 
at the old ratio of 16 to i ? Why did the farmers join with the 



538 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

miners in this request ? 5. Which of the two poHtical parties 
in 1896 favored this "free" coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 
I ? Who was the candidate of this party ? Who was his oppo- 
nent and how did the election turn out ? 6. What led to the es- 
tablishment of the Federal Reserve banks ? In what way did 
these banks help to solve the currency problem ? 

IV. I. In what ways had the government aided in the con- 
struction of railways ? 2. What control, if any, did it have in 
return over the operation of the railways, the sale of stock, the 
rates for carrying freight and passengers, and other matters of 
public interest? 3. Why was the control of the state govern- 
ments over these matters not wholly satisfactory ? 4. What 
commission was established by law in 1887? What powers 
were given to this commission ? 5. Why did the control of 
the trusts become an important national problem ? How did 
the Sherman act attempt to solve this problem ? What, in gen- 
eral, has been the result of the "anti-trust" legislation ? 6. What 
is meant by the "spoils system"? In connection with what 
administration have we already learned something of this system ? 
(See Chapter XIV.) How did the assassination of President Garfield 
attract public attention to the evils of the system ? What im- 
portant law was passed to correct these evils ? If you should 
wish to secure an appointment in some branch of the government 
service now, what steps would you take ? 7. What progress 
had the prohibition movement made before the Civil War? Can 
you think of any reasons why the war should have temporarily 
halted this movement ? When was the prohibition amendment 
passed by Congress ? 

Problems for Further Study 

1. The presidential election of 1876 was the only one in our 
history the results of which have been seriously disputed. An 
interesting account of the campaign, the election, and the final 
decision of the electoral commission will be found in Elson's 
"Side-Lights on American History," vol. ii, ch. xi. 

2. Next to slavery, the tariff has been most frequently a "burn- 
ing issue" of national politics. Give as many reasons as you can 
explaining why this issue has caused so much discussion. 

See especially Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," 
vol. ii, ch. xiii. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

FOREIGN AFFAIRS : THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD 

POWER 

I. Controversies with Great Britain 

The Alabama Affair. — During the Civil War and the 
three decades following it, there were several controversies 
with Great Britain. 

The first grave difficulty arose out of " the Alabama 
claims." During the Civil War agents of the Confederate 
government were permitted to purchase warships in Great 
Britain, contrary to the rules of international law. One of 
these ships, the Jlabama, built in Liverpool, for a long time 
preyed on merchant vessels, destroying goods and shipping 
and causing heavy losses to American citizens. The United 
States lodged a protest with the British government, de- 
claring that it was responsible in allowing the Alabama to 
clear for the high seas. When the English government 
disclaimed responsibility in the matter, many leaders in 
this country insisted that our answer should be a declara- 
tion of war. Fortunately rash counsels did not prevail 
in either country. 

Arbitration of the Dispute. — In 1871 an agreement was 
made with Great Britain to submit all questions in contro- 
versy to a tribunal composed of five arbitrators to be selected 
by the President of the United States, Queen Victoria, the 
King of Italy, the Emperor of Brazil, and the President of 
Switzerland. This tribunal sat at Geneva and reviewed 

539 



540 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

all the disputes between the United States and Great Britain. 
It awarded the sum of fifteen million dollars to the United 
States to cover the estimated losses of American citizens 
due to the ravages of the Confederate ships built in 
England. 

The Venezuela Affair. — The second difficulty with Great 
Britain occurred in 1895 in connection with the Monroe 
Doctrine. For a long time Venezuela and Great Britain 
had been disputing about the boundary line between the 
former country and British Guiana. The United States, 
on the appeal of the South American republic, had taken an 
interest in the quarrel on the principle announced in the 
Monroe Doctrine, namely, that the United States would not 
permit any European power to acquire more territory in 
the Western Hemisphere. Great Britain asserted that she 
was not attempting to acquire any new territory, but was 
merely claiming that which lawfully belonged to her. When 
England and Venezuela came to a deadlock in 1895, our 
Secretary of State, Richard Olney, wrote a curt note to 
Great Britain asking whether she was willing to arbitrate 
the dispute over the Venezuelan boundary. In his letter 
Secretary Olney declared that the United States was virtual 
protector in this hemisphere. 

Cleveland' s Message to Congress. — In reply the British 
government rejected arbitration, saying that the Monroe 
Doctrine was not involved at all. This answer was viewed 
as an offense by President Cleveland. In his message to 
Congress in December, 1895, he asked that a commission 
be created for the purpose of ascertaining the true bound- 
ary between Venezuela and British Guiana ; and then 
he added in a very determined manner that it would 
be the duty of the United States to resist by every means 
in its power any attempt of Great Britain to hold 
lands which this American commission might decide to be 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 541 

Venezuelan territory. He went on to hint that war might 
result. 

England Submits the Question to Arbitration. — Presi- 
dent Cleveland's vigorous message was approved by many 
American citizens, but it was severely criticized by others 
on the ground that it might bring on a needless war. It 
was a matter for general surprise when Great Britain, in- 
stead of refusing to permit interference by the government 
of the United States, aided the American commission in 
its search for evidence as to the truth about the boundar}^ 
in question, and finally yielded to the proposition that the 
whole matter should be arbitrated. As a result, the quarrel 
which brought the two countries to the very verge of war 
was happily settled. The tribunal of arbitration met at 
Paris in 1899. Ex-President Harrison was the lawyer 
for Venezuela. The court of arbitration, after going into 
the matter carefully, rendered a decision which was, on the 
whole, favorable to Great Britain. The affair was brought 
to an end, President Cleveland receiving praise for his inde- 
pendence, and Great Britain finding consolation in getting 
nearly everything she claimed. 

Difficulties with Canadians Arbitrated. — Equally for- 
tunate was the peaceful settlement of several controversies 
with Canada, particularly over the right to catch seals on 
the western coast, the fisheries along the eastern coast, 
the navigation of the Great Lakes, and above all, the Alas- 
kan boundary. The boundary question was submitted to 
arbitration in 1903, and the claims of the United States, 
except in a few details, were approved as correct, the 
British commissioner taking the American side. The 
victory by the United States was regarded by many Ca- 
nadians as unjust, but it was accepted by them with good 
grace. 



542 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

II. Samoa and Hawaii; the Growth of Foreign 

Trade 

The Controversy with Germany over Samoa. — While 
the EngHsh and Americans were settHng their quarrels by 
peaceful means, important events were taking place in the 
Pacific Ocean. Far away to the southwest, nearer to Aus- 
tralia than to the United States, lay the Samoan Islands, 
inhabited by a number of half-savage tribes with whom the 
various civilized countries of the world carried on more or 
less trade. As early as 1878, the United States had made a 
treaty with a petty king in Tutuila, and secured a naval 
base in the harbor of Pago Pago in exchange for an agree- 
ment to lend assistance to him in time of need. 

A few years afterward a native king, Malietoa, got into 
a quarrel with the German consul, who had raised his 
country's flag there, and a number of sailors who landed 
from a German battleship in the harbor were killed. The 
British government, which had watched with alarm the 
conduct of Germany in the Pacific, and the government 
of the United States, equally anxious, sent warships to the 
Islands. There was some fear that war would result, but 
better counsels prevailed, and in 1889 the United States 
joined with Great Britain and Germany in a protectorate 
over the Samoan Islands. This did not prove to be satis- 
factory. Ten years later the plan was abandoned, and the 
United States obtained outright possession of the Island 
of Tutuila, thus securing an important naval base in the 
southwestern Pacific. 

The Hawaiian Question. — The acquisition of Tutuila 
awakened a new interest in the Hawaiian Islands, which 
lie about half way between Samoa and San Francisco. For 
a long time American missionaries and traders had been at 
work in those islands, and by the middle of the nineteenth 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 543 

century the Americans had more influence there than the 
agents of any other government. 

The Annexation of Hawaii. — In 1893 some Americans 
in Hawaii, aided by a few natives, alleged that the queen, 
Lihuokalani, was ruKng in an arbitrary manner, and started 
a revolt against her at Honolulu. They organized a gov- 
ernment of their own, under the protection of United States 
marines then stationed on a warship in the harbor, and 
sent agents to the United States asking for annexation. 
President Cleveland, however, thought that this action by 
the Americans in Hawaii was very high-handed ; and he 
steadily refused to lend support to the plan. It was not 
until the summer of 1898 that Congress by joint resolution 
declared the Hawaiian Islands to be a part of the United 
States. Not long afterward they were organized into a 
regular territory, governed by a legislature locally elected 
and a governor appointed by the President and Senate of 
the United States. 

American Industries Seek Foreign Markets. — Until 
the closing years of the nineteenth century the attention 
of our people had been centered largely on home affairs : 
the abolition of slavery, the construction of railroads, the 
development of western lands and mineral resources, and 
the upbuilding of industries of every kind. Before the 
inauguration of President McKinley, in 1897, practically 
all of the arable western farming lands had been occupied, 
and the great industries, having supplied the home demand 
for staple commodities, were prepared to sell immense stocks 
abroad wherever markets could be found. In other words, 
in her industrial growth the United States had arrived at a 
point which England had reached many decades before. 
American business men were looking abroad for new 
markets in which to sell their products, and new opportuni- 
ties to invest capital in profitable enterprises. 



544 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



III. The Cuban Revolt Leads to the Spanish- 
American War 

The Cubans Revolt against Spain. — By 1895 American 
citizens had more than fifty milhon dollars invested in busi- 
ness in Cuba and a trade of nearly one hundred millions 
annually. In that year there broke out a revolt in Cuba, 
which was marked by extreme cruelty on both sides and by 
great loss of lives and property. The leader of the rebels 
ordered the destruction of plantations, burned sugar facto- 
ries, and laid waste thousands of acres of valuable lands 
owned by Americans. What he left undone was finished 
by the Spanish general, Weyler, who not only destroyed 
property but gathered up the rural inhabitants and forced 
them to live in military camps, where they died of disease 
by the hundreds. Business was paralyzed, and in a little 
while American citizens had filed claims against Spain 
amounting to millions of dollars for property which, they 
alleged, had been ruined. 

America Sympathizes with the Cubans. — The cruelties of 
the Spanish generals stirred the sympathy of the American 
people. Sermons were preached against Spanish rule ; 
orators declared that the Cuban people should be aided in 
their " heroic struggle for liberty" ; and radical newspapers 
demanded that the government of the United States inter- 
vene at once to secure Cuban independence. Cuban agen- 
cies were formed in American cities to raise money and 
secretly ship supplies and arms to the revolutionists. 

McKinley Protests to Spain. — During the presidential 
campaign of 1896, the Cuban revolt was discussed along 
with other issues. The Republicans complained that Spain 
was unable to protect the property or lives of American 
citizens residing in Cuba, and declared that the American 
government should offer to mediate between Spain and the 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 545 

insurgents. President Cleveland assumed an attitude of 
neutrality, although he did suggest, without avail, that an 
attempt should be made to settle the quarrel by mediation. 
The new President chosen in 1896, McKinley, shortly 
after his inauguration protested to Spain against her policy 
in Cuba and demanded that order be restored. 

The ** Maine " Blown Up. — The United States and Spain 
were engaged in exchanging letters on Cuban affairs when, 
on February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine, which had 
been sent by President McKinley to protect Americans in 
Havana, was blown up in the harbor, and two officers and 
two hundred fifty-eight members of the crew were killed. 
The tragedy stirred the country from coast to coast. People 
in the streets began to wear buttons bearing the legend, 
" Remember the Maine,'' and the advocates of war re- 
doubled their demands for immediate action. Although 
Spain denied having any official knowledge of the cause 
of the explosion which wrecked the Mai7ie, and the charge 
was never proved, many American citizens believed that 
Spanish officers in Cuba had been responsible for it. 

The Popular Demand for War. — For some time nego- 
tiations continued between the United States and Spain. 
The Spanish government made many promises. It agreed 
to restore peace in Cuba, to permit the establishment of a 
Cuban parliament, and to grant a certain amount of self- 
government to the Cubans. In short, the Spanish govern- 
ment claimed that it had yielded to the Cubans everything 
except complete independence, and had met all the demands 
made by the United States. President McKinley, however, 
refused to believe in the Spanish promises. He was urged 
on every hand to break off negotiations and drive Spain 
from the Western Hemisphere. 

War with Spain (1898). — On April 11, 1898, President 
McKinley sent a message to Congress saying that the time 

2N 



546 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



had come to suppress the disorders in the island, and to 
protect American Hves and property there. On April 19 
Congress declared that Cuba should be free, that Spain 
should be compelled to withdraw, and that the President 
should be empowered to use miHtary and naval forces to 
bring Spain to terms. While in fact declaring war on 
Spain, Congress added that the United States had no 




5REAT 

g^ '■ BAHAMA O "^ 

vELEUTHERA —^ 



Wmn-Eng. Co.. N.Y. 



The West Indies 



intention of exercising any control over Cuba except to 
establish peace there and would withdraw when freedom 
and order were secured. 

Dewey's Victory at Manila Bay. — In the war which 
followed, the most dramatic events occurred on the sea. 
Admiral Dewey, in command of the Asiatic squadron of 
the American fleet, had been instructed, in February, to 
hold his ships at Hongkong and be ready at any time to 
sail for the Philippines. On receiving news that war was 
declared, Dewey left the Chinese waters and steamed into 
Manila Bay on the evening of April 30. Early on the fol- 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 547 

lowing morning he opened fire on the little Spanish fleet 
under the guns of the forts at Manila. Within a few 
hours he had destroyed the enemy's warships, killed 
nearly four hundred men, and silenced the shore batteries, 
— all without the loss of a single American sailor. News 
of the extraordinary venture reached the United States 
by way of Hongkong, on May 6, and the hero of the day 
was by popular acclaim given a place among the immortals 
of American naval history. 

The Blockade of the Cuban Ports. — Meanwhile great 
events were taking place nearer home. Rear Admiral 
Sampson, in charge of the Atlantic squadron, had blockaded 
the coasts of Cuba and had begun to watch for the Spanish 
fleet which was on the way to Cuba. Nevertheless the 
Spanish admiral, Cervera, was able to slip into the harbor 
of Santiago on May 19, where he was at once bottled up 
by American ships. The battleship Oregon, which was on 
the Pacific coast at the outbreak of the war, made the long 
voyage around Cape Horn, and, " as trim as a yacht," 
joined the American ships in the Atlantic. 

El Caney and San Juan Hill. — In a short time after the 
arrival of Cervera the American troops, principally soldiers 
from the regular army, embarked from Tampa, Florida, 
where they had been concentrating for several weeks. 
They reached Cuba on June 22, and opened a campaign 
under General Shafter. The most serious battles occurred 
at El Caney and San Juan Hill, two strategic points near 
the city of Santiago. It was at the second of these places 
that the famous Rough Riders — a regiment organized 
by Colonel Roosevelt — distinguished themselves. After 
several engagements, in which the fortunes of the day were 
generally on the side of the Americans, preparations were 
made for the storming of Santiago. 

The Spanish Fleet Destroyed off Santiago. — The Spanish 



548 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



fleet attempted to escape from the harbor of Santiago, 
on the morning of July 3, and was completely demolished 
by the American battleships in immediate charge of 
Commodore Schley. Within a few hours all the Spanish 
ships were destroyed or captured, with a loss of about six 
hundred killed and wounded, while the Americans had only 
one man killed and one man wounded. This naval victor}^ 









\,y ,' ■ 1 /, *'*\ i;^^^ •jf'^ V? til 






^MmmmkUi^Mhs^^M:^./' 




San Juan Hill, an Important Point Near the City of Santiago 

marked the doom of Santiago, although it did not surrender 
formally until July 17, after two days' bombardment. 

The Invasion of Porto Rico. The Peace Protocol. — The 
fall of Santiago ended the war in Cuba, and General Miles 
was sent to the neighboring island of Porto Rico to de- 
stroy Spanish dominion there. His troops were rapidly 
gaining headway, without having to fight any battles, when 
the news arrived on August 12 that steps had been taken to 
restore peace between Spain and the United States. On 
that day Spain, acting through the good offices of the French 
ambassador at Washington, had agreed that Cuba should 
be free, that Porto Rico should be ceded to the United States, 
and that Manila should be occupied by American troops, 




INDIA N 
OCEAN 



40^ Longitude 160' East ISO' Lopgitude 160' West from 140 ' Greenwich 



American Dominions in the Pacific 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 549 

pending the final settlement. Unfortunately the news of 
this prehminary peace plan did not reach Manila until after 
more blood had been shed. On August 13, the day after the 
signing of the peace protocol, the American troops under 
the direction of Admiral Dewey and General Merritt took 
Manila by storm. 

IV. The Results of the War; America's New 
Interests in the Orient 

The Acquisition of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and 
Guam. — The final terms of peace between the United 
States and Spain were arranged by agents of the two 
countries who met at Paris on October i, 1898. There 
was general uncertainty at first as to what should 
be done with the Philippine Islands, of which the Ameri- 
can people had little knowledge at the outbreak of the 
war. Some citizens were opposed to the idea that the 
United States should follow in the footsteps of the con- 
quering nations of the Old World and hold " imperial '' 
dominions far across the seas. Others, however, declared 
that the American trade and commerce in the Far East 
would be aided by having a strong naval base near the 
Asiatic coast. It was contended that we had got into the 
Philippines and could not very well withdraw. At all 
events, the final treaty of peace, drawn up at Paris, provided 
that Cuba should be free, and that Porto Rico, the Philip- 
pines, and Guam should be ceded to the United States. 

The Filipinos Resist American Rule (1899-1902). — 
Before the treaty of peace was ratified, a rebellion broke out 
in the Philippines. For a long time the native Filipinos 
had been dissatisfied with Spanish rule. Just before the war 
began between Spain and the United States, there had been 
a rebellion under the leadership of a champion of Philippine 



550 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




/ptiORNEO-'f'_^^ . , L«-Ds 



Wms.Eog.CcN.Y. 



The Orient and the Philippines 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 551 

independence, Aguinaldo. When the American troops 
stormed Manila, Aguinaldo and his followers, gathered 
under the banner of the Philippine Republic, had been in- 
vited to take part, and had distinguished themselves by great 
valor. When the native leaders heard in January, 1899, 
that the United States did not intend to grant them inde- 
pendence, but proposed to hold their islands as American 
territory, they were surprised and bitterly disappointed. 

On February 4 trouble broke out between the American 
soldiers and the Filipino troops. This affair marked the 
beginning of a rebellion which lasted nearly three years. 
During the struggle there were not many pitched battles. 
Most of the fighting occurred in wild, out-of-the-way places 
where the native troops picked off small bands of Ameri- 
can soldiers or were destroyed by American regiments. 
Cruel deeds were committed during the war, and the 
whole affair made many citizens wonder whether this new 
" imperialism " was in accord with American ideals of in- 
dependence and self-government. 

The Boxer Rebellion in China (1900). — Soon after the 
United States had annexed the Philippine Islands, it took 
another step in world politics, namely, helped in suppress- 
ing a revolt in China. In 1900 a number of Chinese, known 
as " Boxers," who resented the constant interference of 
European powers in the affairs of their country, rose in 
rebellion and killed the German ambassador and a large 
number of foreigners at Pekin. Immediately the United 
States joined Russia, England, France, Germany, Japan, 
and other powers, in sending soldiers to suppress the 
Boxer Rebellion. 

The expedition was easily successful, and when order 
was restored the Chinese were compelled to pay a huge 
sum for damages done to the foreigners. Unlike several of 
the powers of the world, which had seized Chinese lands 



552 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



and were ready to take more, the government of the United 
States advocated merely equal and impartial trade with 
China for all countries — an "open door." Moreover, the 
United States, finding that the damages awarded to it 
in the settlement were greatly in excess of the losses 
actually incurred, instead of merely pocketing the difference. 




From the Detrait " Evening News 

" Going to Stay a While " 
A cartoon of the expedition into China, 1900. 



as did the other nations, decided that it should be used 
for the education of Chinese in American schools. 

" Imperialism " a Political Issue. — All these stirring 
events beyond the seas naturally awakened deep interest 
and anxiety at home," and, in the presidential campaign 
of 1900, " imperialism " — the use of strategy and force to 
acquire territory and trade "abroad — was everywhere dis- 
cussed. The Democrats, under the leadership of their 
candidate, Mr. Bryan, attacked the Republicans, saying 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 



553 



that they had departed from the ideals of the Fathers 
of America and were following in the footsteps of old 
Rome by conquering and ruling subject races. The Demo- 
crats also criticized the government for waging war on a 
people who were striving for the right of self-government, 
and declared that independence at a very early date should 
be promised to the Filipinos. 

The Republicans, on their part, repHed that (i) the Philip- 
pine Islands had fallen to the United States as an unex- 
pected result of the war ; (2) there were many different 













William Jennings Bryan Lecturing at a Chautauqua Meeting 

tribes and peoples in the islands in all stages of civiliza- 
tion, who were not prepared at all for self-government ; 
(3) for the United States to abandon them would make the 
islands the prey of any covetous power; and (4) the 
best thing to do was to help prepare the natives for self- 
government by introducing order, education, trade, and 
industry. The Republicans were victorious in the election 
of 1900, and naturally assumed that the country had ap- 
proved their imperial policies.* 

American Developments in the New Territory. — As soon 
as order was restored in any of the provinces of the Philip- 



554 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

pines, the United States established civil government and 
attempted to improve the condition of the masses. A 
great educational plan was formed, and hundreds of 
American teachers were sent over to give instruction to 
people who had never before known how to read and 
write. Highways and railroads were built ; improved 
methods of cultivating the soil were introduced ; and 
many new industries were established. 

In 1907 the Filipinos were granted a share in their own 
government. A large number of the native men were given 
the right to vote and to elect delegates to a general as- 
sembly in which many matters of local importance could 
be decided. The governor of the islands and the members 
of the upper house of the legislature, however, were to be 
appointed by the President and Senate of the United States. 

About the same kind of government was set up in Porto 
Rico. Native men having certain qualifications were granted 
a share in making laws, while the final control was reserved 
to persons chosen by the government of the United States. 

More Home Rule in the Dependencies. — Notwithstanding 
their defeats on the issue of " imperialism," the Democrats 
never ceased to advocate Philippine independence and 
more home rule for Porto Rico. When they came to 
power in 191 3 they immediately began to plan reforms for 
the dependencies. In 1916 Congress passed a law which 
declared that it was the intention of this country to grant 
independence to the Filipinos when they were ready for 
it and which at the same time gave the native voters the 
power to elect the upper as well as the lower house of the 
legislature. In 1917 a similar change was made in the gov- 
ernment of Porto Rico, coupled with universal manhood 
suffrage. 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 555 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What is meant by arbitration ? How were the claims 
of the United States against Great Britain for damages done by 
Confederate cruisers settled ? 2. Why did President Cleveland 
feel justified in interfering in England's controversy with Vene- 
zuela ? How was war with England avoided at this time? 3. 
What difficulties between this country and Canada were settled 
by arbitration ? 

n. I. Locate the Samoan Islands. How did the United 
States come into possession of the Island of Tutuila ? 2. Why 
was the possession of the Hawaiian Islands important to the 
United States ? In what way did the American residents in 
Hawaii attempt to secure .the Islands for this country ? What 
was President Cleveland's opinion of this effort ? When did the 
Islands finally become an American possession ? 

III. I. Why did the Americans sympathize with the Cubans 
in their revolt against Spain ? 2. What immediate event led to 
the Spanish-American War? 3. What great victories did the 
American navy gain in this war ? 4. What were the principal 
land battles ? 5. Name the important American leaders in the 
war. 

IV. I. What new possessions did the Americans gain as a 
result of the Spanish-American War ? 2. What disposition was 
made of Cuba ? 3. How had the Filipinos aided the Americans 
in the attack on Manila ? What did they do when they learned 
that the United States was to take over the government ? 
4. Why were American soldiers sent to China in 1900? What 
was the result of this intervention ? 5. How did the United States 
use part of the indemnity paid by China for damages done during 
the Boxer Rebellion? 6. What is meant by "imperialism"? 
Why did some American leaders object to the acquisition by the 
United States of territorial possessions so far away as the Phil- 
ippines ? 7. What have the Americans done to help the Filipinos ? 
How are the Islands now governed ? 

Problems for Further Study 

I . Select one of the following topics for special study and report : 

The Cuban Revolt: See Elson's "Side-Lights on American 

History," vol.ii, pp. 352-358 ; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 373-379. 



556 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Battle of Manila Bay: See Elson, pp. 363-373; South- 
worth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 256-259. 

Santiago, El Caney, and San Juan Hill: See Elson, pp. 374- 
390; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 387-390. 

2. Why were the problems raised by the acquisition of the 
Philippines different from those raised by the acquisition of the 
Louisiana Territory, Florida, and the territory ceded to this country 
by Mexico at the close of the Mexican War .? 



CHAPTER XXX 

ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 

In the midst of reconstruction in the South, the de- 
velopment of industry and commerce, the settlement of the 
Far West, and management of foreign poHtics, the American 
people never once lost sight of the fact that education was 
essential to the success of democratic government. Indeed, 
in the second year of the Civil war. Congress enacted the 
Morrill Law providing endowments for higher education 
throughout the Union, and with every new state in the West 
schools and colleges appeared. No aspect of education was 
neglected. Elementary schools were increased in number, 
faciHties for training teachers were enlarged, high schools 
were founded, and colleges multiplied. The tasks were 
heavy and the obstacles in the way of universal education 
were great ; so progress in spite of splendid labors on the 
part of public officers and teachers was necessarily slow. 

I. The Development of Schools and Colleges 

The Situation in 1880. — It was a long time before even 
elementary education was within the reach of a great ma- 
jority of the children. In 1880, only ten million of the 
sixteen million children of school age in the country were 
enrolled in the schools, and the average daily attendance 
was far less than half the total number. About one out 
of every five of the voters of the United States could not 
read. It was estimated that not fewer than four million 

557 



558 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



out of the ten million voters were so poorly educated that 
they were unable to read intelligently the common news- 
papers of the day. 

Much of this illiteracy was in the South, where special 
problems had arisen as a result of the freeing of the 
slaves. The North, however, was in a way more open to 
criticism ; with two thirds of the population it had about 
one third of the illiteracy. When we remember that the 
North was much richer than the South, we are compelled 
to say that it neglected its duties and could not plead 
poverty as a reason. Yet in every section earnest and 
able men and women were laboring with great zeal to in- 
crease the number of common schools and to secure more 
trained teachers. 

Forty Years of Progress. — In the country as a whole, 
great progress has been made in the elementary schools 
in the past forty years. In 1916 over three fourths 
of the children of school age in the United States were 
enrolled in the common schools, and three fourths of those 
enrolled were in actual attendance. Even then the serious 
problem of illiteracy was not solved, for there were still 
millions of people — eight per cent of the total population 
over ten years of age — who could not read or write. 
The difficulties of universal education were increased by 
the constant arrival of foreigners from countries like Russia 
and Serbia, where about four fifths of the population over 
ten years of age could not read or write. 

Changes in the Attitude toward Free Schools. — During 
this period there occurred an important change in the spirit 
of the public-school system. In the early days of the com- 
mon schools many people, as we have seen, looked upon 
them as charitable institutions for the poor. Within a few 
decades this spirit of contempt for them disappeared every- 
where, and the people came to regard education as a right 



^ 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 



559 



to which every child in the United States was entitled by 
virtue of citizenship. 

The Rapid Growth of High Schools. — While the oppor- 
tunities for elementary education were being increased, a 
new and special effort was made to give to all children a 
chance to learn more than the rudiments offered in the 




Students Studying in the Greenhouse, Washington Irving High School, 

New York City 



graded schools. A rapid growth of public high schools 
was the result. At the end of President Grant's admin- 
istration, in 1877, there were only about one hundred 
thousand pupils in high schools in the United States. 
Three fourths of them were in private high schools, 
and only one fourth in those supported by public funds. 
Within four decades there were over eleven thousand pub- 



560 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

lie high schools in the country with more than a million 
students, while the enrollment in the private high schools 
was about one hundred fifty thousand. Moreover, the 
education offered in the public high schools was in many 
respects in advance of the curriculum offered in the 
colleges half a century before. 

The State-supported Colleges. — To complete the scheme 
of education it was necessary to establish free colleges 
and universities supported at public expense. To the 
older eastern colleges like Harvard, Princeton, and William 
and Mary, had been added a number of schools in the 
Western States, founded principally by churches, such 
as Oberlin, in Ohio, estabUshed in 1833 by the Congre- 
gationaHsts, and Asbury, now De Pauw, in Indiana, founded 
by the Methodists in 1837. Although the early land grants 
for the support of education in the Western States were 
for colleges as well as common schools, only»a few states 
like Michigan and Wisconsin had made a beginning to- 
ward a public college and university system before i860. 

The Morrill Act (1862). — As a further spur to educa- 
tion Congress, in 1862, passed the famous " Morrill Act," 
which set aside miUions of acres of the public lands to be 
devoted to the support of colleges for instruction in agri- 
culture and mechanical arts, as well as scientific and 
classical subjects. These lands were apportioned among 
the states according to the number of their senators and 
representatives in Congress. Out of this great endowment 
were developed " agricultural and mechanical colleges " 
in every state in the Union. In many instances new schools 
were founded, but sometimes aid was given to older institu- 
tions. 

In the meantime, the states in the West an-d South 
were estabhshing colleges supported by taxes and controlled 
by public officers. By 1878, Indiana, Michigan, Wis- 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 561 

consin, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, California, Illinois, 
Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington had laid the 
foundations of their universities. In some of these states 
(such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California), the agri- 
cultural college was combined with the state university. 
In others (for exampte, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Kan- 
sas) separate agricultural colleges were built up. Many of 
the states, however, had made no provision for state uni- 
versities, and in several cases (for instance, Illinois, Ohio, 
and Maine) the agricultural colleges founded as a result of 
the Morrill Act later developed into state universities. 

II. The Growth of Vocational Education; Educa- 
tional Extension; The Higher Education of 
Women 

The Demand for the " Practical " Studies. — The signs 
of the new era in education were to be found not alone 
in the number of schools and colleges. Even more strik- 
ing were the changes made in the subjects taught. In 
the old days studies were largely confined to arithmetic, 
grammar, history, and languages, and were not designed to 
prepare pupils for any special work in life. As the notion 
of " education for everyone " spread, there grew up a 
demand for a " practical education '^ intended to fit students 
for agriculture, household management, and for trades, 
professions, and occupations in our wonderful industrial 
life as well as for citizenship. 

Reasons for the Development of Vocational Education. — 
Several causes led to a gradual and profound change in the 
aims and purposes of education, especially in the colleges 
and high schools. 

I. In the first place, the great development of industry 
that has been so frequently referred to created a demand 
20 



562 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

for technically trained men, — engineers, draftsmen, archi- 
tects, and chemists. Technical schools grew up very rap- 
idly to meet this demand. 

2. The Morrill act of 1862, as we have seen, gave rise to a 
large number of agricultural and mechanical colleges. These 
grew very slowly at first, for after- all little was really 
known of agricultural science. The federal government, to 
meet this need, established in 1885 a vast system of" agri- 
cultural experiment stations," where men trained in chem- 
istry and other sciences went to work to find out how best 
to raise crops, to increase the fertility of the soil, and to 
improve the various breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, 
and poultry. Within a few years, information was available 
which really helped the farmer to get more from his land, 
and then the agricultural colleges began to attract large 
numbers of students. A demand also came for agricultural 
courses in the high schools of the farming districts, and even 
for the rudiments of agricultural science in the elementary 
rural schools. In 191 7, the federal government instituted 
the practice of voting national funds in aid of vocational 
education in the high schools and schools of similar grade 
in the various states. 

3. In 1876 a Centennial Exposition was held in Philadel- 
phia celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of American 
independence. People from all over the country flocked 
to this exposition. Among other important lessons, many 
of them learned for the first time what the countries 
of northern Europe, — particularly Germany, France, Den- 
mark, and Sweden, — were doing in the education of their 
children for the practical duties of life. It was the work 
in " manual training " and drawing that impressed them 
most, and many of the visitors went home with the firm 
determination to have the schools of America adopt these 
newer ideas in education. The first manual-training high 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 563 

school was opened in St. Louis in 1880, under the prin- 
cipalship of Calvin Woodward, who is recognized as the 
pioneer in this movement in our country. 

Educational Extension. — There was little danger, how- 
ever, that American education would become entirely " prac- 
tical " in character, because all sorts of new agencies for 
spreading general education among the people had de- 
veloped before the end of the nineteenth century. These 
included popular lecture systems, such as that supported by 
public funds in New York City, which provides for evening 
lectures for the people on all the themes of literature, history, 
and science. In addition, universities and colleges offered 
extension and correspondence work, carrying everywhere 
the messages of higher education to the people. Institutes 
were founded in all sections to help teachers and farmers 
prepare themselves to do better work. 

The Public Libraries. — Closely connected with these ac- 
tivities was the rapid spread of public libraries, until it was 
a poor town or village indeed, at least in the North, which, 
at the opening of the twentieth century, did not have a 
small library within reach of its inhabitants. Where such 
local supplies were wanting, state libraries sometimes 
stepped in and provided " circulating book boxes," thus 
making the best books of the day accessible even to the 
inhabitants in the most out-of-the-way districts. With 
extension systems, circulating libraries, and cheap news- 
papers, magazines, and books, it became possible even for 
the humblest of the land to have a knowledge of the world 
and its work. 

The Community Center. — Then came the community 
center plan for making the public school building the 
place around which the public life of the community 
revolves. There the children of the people are educated. 
There provision is made for play and recreation, particularly 



564 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

for the children of the crowded districts of the great city^ 
who are otherwise compelled to play upon the streets. 
There halls are provided where the adults can go to read, to 




Children's Room in the New York Public Library 



play games, to listen to lectures, or to enter into the discus- 
sion of the problems of citizenship. 

Additional Services Assumed by the Schools. — It is impos- 
sible to name here all the other achievements in education 
during the last half century — better sanitation, heating, 
and lighting for the schools ; better fire protection ; more 
beautiful surroundings ; the inspection of the health of 
the pupils ; school nurses ; separate classes for backward 
pupils ; gymnastic courses ; supervised playgrounds ; courses 
in art ; and instruction in care of the body. 

Higher Education for Women. Vassar College {i86§). — It 
was not until 1865 that a woman's college with ample funds 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 565 

— Vassar College — was established, by Matthew Vassar, 
at Poughkeepsie, New York. Those who organized this 
school decided first of all that there should be a woman's 
college in the East with standards as high as those pre- 
vailing in the best men's colleges. When this new college 
was announced, the New York Evening Post said : " No 
institution of note has yet ventured to admit females much 
further than into the mysteries of the rudiments." 

Women in the State Universities of the West. — With the 
establishment of Vassar College, education for women be- 
came more respectable. Those who had scoffed at it before 
began to take it more seriously. Wisconsin, by a law 
enacted in 1867, admitted women to the normal depart- 
ment of the college; in 1870 the University of Michigan, 
opened in 1841, admitted them to the regular courses. 
Before 1890 all of the western state universities were opened 
to women on the same terms -as to men. 

Advance in East and South. — Between 1875 and 1895 
many new women's colleges were opened in the East, in- 
cluding Smith, in Massachusetts, Barnard, connected with 
Columbia University, in New York, and Bryn Mawr, in 
Pennsylvania. By 191 7 all the Southern state universities, 
except Virginia, Georgia, and Florida (which has a separate 
women's college), were open to women. 

Professional Education for Women. — When they began 
to consider the question of training for the professions, 
such as law and medicine, women encountered more op- 
position than they had met in their effort to secure an 
ordinary college education. The advocates of professional 
education for women were not discouragecl, and in 1858 
they had the satisfaction of seeing the Boston Medical 
School for Women founded. Within ^y& years there were 
more than two hundred and fifty women practicing medi- 
cine. In time medical schools for men began to admit 



566 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

women. In 1893 one of the leading medical schools in 
the country, at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, 
opened its doors to them. The example of this great school 
was followed by the announcement, in 1916, that Columbia 
University would admit women to its College of Physicians 
and Surgeons. The progress of women's education in law 
was much slower; and the law schools of some of the 
largest universities are still closed to them. 



III. Other Educational Agencies 

Newspapers and Development in the Art of Printing. — No 
account of popular education in the United States would be 
complete if the newspapers and magazines were left out of 
consideration. In 1853 there was introduced the " web- 
press," which printed by means of rapidly revolving cylin- 
ders, drawing the paper from a long roll containing two 
or three miles of paper in one piece. Instead of a few 
thousand copies an hour, this new machine could turn out 
a hundred thousand or more copies an hour at a slight 
cost per copy. For many years, however, type was set by 
hand. About 1900 a fast typesetting machine, enabling 
one man to do the work of eight or ten, was introduced. 
In the old days cuts or plates from which pictures were 
printed were laboriously made by hand on wood or copper ; 
but about 1880 devices for making plates quickly and 
cheaply were invented, making it possible for papers to 
print pictures illustrating their news " stories." 

The result of these inventions was a rapid increase in the 
number of newspapers and in the circulation of the dailies 
of the cities. By 191 5 there were 26,000 American news- 
papers out of a total of 62,000 pubHshed in the world, 
and there were many papers that issued from a quarter of 
a million to nearly a million copies daily. In 1882, the 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 567 

American Associated Press was founded to collect news in 
all parts of the world and telegraph it instantly to news- 
papers. Thus within a few hours events everywhere in the 
world are brought to the attention of everybody for a 
penny or two. 

The Illustrated Papers. — Before the Civil War there had 
been only a few illustrated papers, such as Leslie's Weekly 
Magazine and Illustrated Newspaper and Harper s Weekly. 
During the war, the New York Herald surprised newspaper 
readers everywhere by bringing out in its morning edition 
maps of the previous day's battle. It was regarded as 
a great feat of newspaper enterprise. A little later the 
cartoon as a remarkable form of picture writing came into 
common use. There had been cartoons in pamphlets and 
magazines in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth 
century, but it was not until about 1880 that it became a 
practice for the leading papers to set forth striking events 
in the form of serious or comic pictures. Great Sunday 
newspapers containing from twenty-four to seventy-two 
pages were the next striking development. They speedily 
drove almost out of the field the old-fashioned weekly. 

The Growth of the Magazines. — The most serious educa- 
tional work of the publishers has been done through the 
magazine. At the end of the nineteenth century there were 
special journals devoted to every subject in which any 
considerable number of people had any interest : science, 
education, politics, music, art, theater, inventions, trades, 
dentistry, medicine, law, engineering, sports, literature, 
agriculture, labor, woman suffrage, and religion, to mention 
only a few of the most important. To these were added 
reviews of current events and important articles. There are 
now more than two million regular purchasers of monthly 
magazines, while one of the weeklies claims more than two 
million buyers. 



568 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

In 1 891 a law was passed making it impossible for Ameri- 
can publishers to take copyrighted articles out of English 
papers without paying for them. This helped to create a 
demand for American writers, and contributed powerfully to 
the growth of "Americanism" in our papers and magazines. 

The old, established monthlies, like The Atlantic, Harper'' s. 
The Century, Scribner's, and The North America7i Review, 
continued to give a distinct tone to our intellectual life. 

The Popular Magazine. — Before long there appeared the 
" popular " magazine, full of stories and pictures and sold 
at a low price. In this field S. S. McClure was a pioneer. 
He had traveled widely among the plain people of the 
small towns and country regions of the United States, and 
he knew their tastes. In 1893 he pubUshed a magazine to 
sell at ten cents. Through it he carried to the people, 
far from the great cities, pictures of distinguished men and 
women, historic events and stories of the deeds of the 
mighty. Thus farmers and their families came to know 
the faces of the greatest generals, politicians, and actresses, 
and to learn about the doings of the world's celebrated 
personages. 

About 1897, when the people were aroused over the 
actions of the great trusts and the politicians of the cities 
(see page 574), Mr. McClure began to publish articles 
attacking the Standard Oil Company and other big indus- 
trial concerns and also the political " bosses " of the cities. 
Writers, like Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell, stirred 
the country with tales about the wrongdoing of many 
capitalists and politicians. The Cosmopolitafi, Munsey's, 
Everybody's, Collier^s, and others published stories of the 
same character, and an age of "muckraking" or bitter 
criticism of things American was ushered in. This had a 
deep influence on politics, for these magazines sold by 
the millions. 



ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 569 

The Chautauqua. — Undoubtedly the popular magazines 
stimulated an interest among the people in more serious 
study. Out of this have come the famous Chautauquas 
and university extension movements. The former was 
estabhshed in 1874 by Lewis Miller of Akron, Ohio, and 
Bishop John H. Vincent of the Methodist Church. It 
began as a sort of Sunday school and then broadened out, 
carrying to the people lecturers and books on literature, 
art, science, travel, world movements, and social ques- 
tions. In 1879 Chautauqua literary and scientific circles 
were organized to afford people an opportunity to study 
systematically at home. An " assembly " was formed at 
Chautauqua, New York, where a few weeks in the year 
lectures and courses of instruction by distinguished author- 
ities were given. In time came the establishment of the 
Chautauqua circuits or series of meetings in hundreds of 
hamlets and towns in all parts of the country. The Chau- 
tauqua system has done more than anything else to 
promote the idea of summer education, winter home study 
by correspondence, and cooperation in public improvements 
among the people. Thus the gateways to knowledge are 
wider open than ever before in the history of the world. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What opportunities for education do you have that 
your fathers and mothers did not have ? 2. What is meant by 
"illiteracy" .? State some of the reasons why there was so much 
illiteracy in this country in 1880 in spite of the growth of free 
schools. 3. What important change took place in the attitude 
of the people toward free schools in the latter part of the nineteenth 
century ? Why is it important that the children of both the rich 
and the poor should attend the free, public, schools ? 4. About 
how many boys and girls attended high schools in 1877.'' In 
1913 ^ What important difference took place between these 



570 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

years in the kind of high schools which most of these pupils at- 
tended ? 5. How were colleges chiejfly supported and controlled 
in the earlier part of the nineteenth century ? What was the 
Morrill Act of 1862 and why was it important ? 

II. I. What is meant by vocational education ? 2. Why 
did the development of industry create a demand for a new kind 
of education? 3. In what year were the agricultural experi- 
ment stations established ? What is the purpose of these stations ? 
4. How did the Centennial Exposition of 1876 call the people's 
attention to the need of a more practical education ? 5. What 
is meant by educational extension ? How did the development 
of public libraries help the work of the schools ? 6. What is 
meant by using the school buildings as "community centers"? 
7. What have the public schools done for the people in addition 
to giving instruction to children ? 8. Why was the establishment 
ofVassar College in 1865 so important? 9. In what section of 
the country was rapid progress first made in the higher education 
of women ? At about what time ? 10. What professional 
schools were first opened to women ? 

III. I. What invention led to the rapid growth of news- 
papers and magazines ? 2. In what way have the popular 
magazines served to educate the people ? 3. What is meant by 
the Chautauqua movement, and how has it rendered service to 
the cause of education ? 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Give as many reasons as you can for supporting elementary 
schools at public expense. For supporting high schools and 
colleges at public expense. 

2. Find out when the first high school in your town or city was 
established. Find where the state agricultural college of your 
state is located, when it was established, and what different kinds 
of service it gives to the farmers of the state. If your state sup- 
ports a university find when it was established and how it came 
to be established. 

3. Discuss in class the way in which the following agencies 
work together to educate the people : schools, newspapers, mag- 
azines, public libraries, art museums, churches, public lectures. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 571 

Outline for Review of the Fifty Years of Progress (Chap- 
ters XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, 
XXX 

I. The rise of the New South. 

A. The situation at the close of the Civil War. 

B. The reconstruction of the planting system. 

C. The development of farming. 

D. The Industrial Revolution in the South. 
II. The growth of the Far West. 

A. The Far West in i860. 

B. New Western states and territories. 

C. The problem of the public land. 
III. The triumph of industry. 

A. The development of mining and manufacturing. 

B. The development of transportation : railroads and ships. 

C. The army of industry : inventors, business men, wage- 

earners. 

D. The results of industrial development. 

1. Development of the export trade. 

2. Disappearance of the frontier. 

3. Business and industry gain on farming. 

4. The growth of the cities. 

5. Evils of industrial development. 
IV. Immigration. 

A. Principal sources of immigration before 1890. 

1. Early immigration. 

2. Immigration after 1865. 

B. Later changes in immigration. 

1. The influx from Southern Europe. 

2. Settlement of immigrants in the cities. 

3. The enormous increase in immigration. 

4. Many immigrants not permanent. 

C. Efforts to restrict immigration. 
V. Combinations of capital and labor. 

A. Competition leads to the formation of "trusts." 

B. The results of combinations of capital. 

1. The "soulless" corporation. 

2. Protective organizations of employees. 



572 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

3. Employers' organizations. 

C. The great strikes. 

D. The rise of Sociahsm. 
VI. Parties and pohtical issues. 

J, The RepubHcan and Democratic parties. 

B. The tariff and income-tax issues. 

C. The currency problem. 

D. Other political problems and issues. 
VII. Foreign affairs. 

J. Controversies with Great Britain. 

B. Controversy with Germany over Samoa. 

C. The Hawaiian question. 

D. The growth of foreign trade. 

VIII. The Spanish-American war and the Boxer difficulties. 

J. The Cuban revolt and the destruction of the Maine. 

B. The war with Spain. 

C. The results of the war. 

D. Military activities in China. 

E. Imperialism a political issue. 
IX. Advances in popular education. 

J. Development of schools and colleges. 

B. The growth of vocational education. 

C. Educational extension. 

D. The higher education of women. 

E. Other educational agencies. 

Important names: 

Presidents: Johnson, 1 865-1 869; Grant, 1 869-1 877; Hayes, 
1877-1881; Garfield and Arthur, 1881-1885; Cleveland, 1885- 
1889; Harrison, 1 889-1 893; Cleveland, 1 893-1 897; McKinley, 
1 897-1 901. 

Other Political Leaders: Tilden, Blaine, Bryan. 

Inventors: Edison, Bell, Wilbur and Orville Wright. 

Labor Leaders: Debs, Gompers. 

Leaders of Business and Industry : Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan. 

Military and Naval Leaders: Dewey, Sampson, Schley, Shafter. 

Important dates : 1877, 1894, 1898. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

I. Causes of Increasing Interest in the Machinery 
OF Government 

1. Popular Education. — In the closing years of the nine- 
teenth century, the people of the United States, men and 
women alike, learned more about the government than 
ever before in the history of our country. As a result of 
the spread of education, more citizens read newspapers, 
magazines, and books. The news of events, great and 
small, was easily scattered throughout the land by the press, 
telegraph, and telephone, so that no part of the country 
could long be ignorant of what was happening in other sec- 
tions. 

2. Wrongdoing on the Part of Public Officers. — In the era 
of great business enterprise which followed the Civil War, 
government officers were often allowed to do wrongful acts 
without interference from the citizens. Sometimes the 
city councils were bribed to sell cheaply or even give away 
to companies the right to build street railways or water- 
works or other public utilities. Members of state legis- 
latures frequently made laws favorable to private persons 
and companies in return for payments of money. It was a 
common occurrence for railway companies to get valuable 
lands away from the government in return for very small 
service. Again, contractors doing public work, such as 
building court houses and bridges, were sometimes per- 
mitted to overcharge and so rob the public treasury. 

573 



574 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

3. Criticism of Faithless Officials. — From time to time 
criticism of negligent officials appeared in newspapers or 
in pamphlets. Widespread concern about the evils in 
American government was especially aroused by the publi- 
cation in 1888 of James Bryce's "The American Common- 
wealth." Bryce was an English student of government 
who spent several years in the United States and then wrote 
a long and careful account of his observations. He did 
more than any one else to call the attention of the American 
people to the exact way in which their affairs were managed 
and especially to the corruption prevalent in cities. Al- 
though some Americans were deeply annoyed by Bryce's 
book, the more serious people said that we should profit by 
his criticism and endeavor to " clean house." 

4. Problems of the Cities. — Another cause of increased 
interest in government was the rapid growth of large cities. 
As long as the people lived in the country and supplied 
themselves with water from their own wells, rode to market 
in their own wagons and carriages, lighted their houses with 
oil lamps, and shipped goods by canal boats and freight 
wagons, there was little need for the government to interfere 
with the way in which business was carried on. When the 
most important public enterprise was the town pump, it 
did not require very much attention on the part of the citi- 
zens to keep it in working order. 

With the growth in population, it was necessary for cities 
to supply their residents with water, gas, electricity, street 
cars, and many other services. They did this either by 
building plants and running them, or by chartering com- 
panies to do the work under the general supervision of the 
city government. Naturally, as the welfare of men, women, 
and children came to depend in a large part on what the 
government did, citizens were forced to think a good deal 
more about government. 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 575 

5. The Education and Emplo3rment of Women. — A fifth 
cause of increased popular concern in poHtics was the edu- 
cation of women, on the one hand, and the employment of 
them in larger numbers in offices, stores, and factories, on 
the other. As common schools and high schools were multi- 
plied throughout the length and breadth of the land, and 
girls were given the same opportunity as boys to learn, they 
began to read the same magazines and newspapers. In 
the factories and stores and mills, they found that they 
were w^orking just as men were, and that all the regula- 
tions to safeguard the health and safety of employees 
affected them. Even the women who did not go out to 
work, but lived in their homes and took care of children, 
were also interested in the new order of things. They saw 
that the character of the schools, the kind of water or gas 
supplied, or the cleanliness of the public markets depended 
upon the way that government officers performed their 
duties. So women at home and out of the home, in 
colleges, schools, factories, and clubs, began to read about 
government and to discuss public affairs. 



II. Civil-Service Reform; the Australian Ballot; 
THE Initiative and Referendum 

Civil-Service Reform in the States and Cities. — As a 
result of this increase in public interest many reforms in 
the machinery of government were brought about during the 
last half century — one of the earhest being in the civil 
service. 

The ** spoils system" presented such glaring evils that one 
is surprised to learn how long it endured. Many independ- 
ent people criticized it from the beginning, and, as we have 
seen, they were able in 1883 to secure a change in the civil 
service of the federal government. In the same year the 



576 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



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THE NEW DEMOCRACY 577 

state of New York passed a law providing that a very 
large number of public employees in the state, county, and 
city governments should be chosen on account of their 
ability to pass certain examinations and tests ; and further- 
more, that they should hold office during good behavior. 
In time several other states — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, 
and Illinois, for example — adopted civil-service reform. 
The new system now prevails to a greater or less extent in 
many states and more than two hundred cities. For 
example, the eighty or ninety thousand employees in the 
city of New York, except those in the higher positions, 
know that no matter who wins in an election they will be 
able to go on with their work unless they neglect their 
duties. 

Ballot Reform. Evil Election Practices. — For a long time 
it was customary for political parties to print their own bal- 
lots, and as a rule, each party selected a color of its own. 
Thus, for example, the Republicans, in an election, would 
select candidates and print their names on white paper, and 
the Democrats would select candidates and print their 
names on a red ballot. These ballots were distributed freely, 
and if any man wanted to vote the Republican ticket he 
simply got one of the white ballots, walked up to the polls, 
and dropped it into the ballot box. The watchers standing 
around could readily see what ticket he voted. It was pos- 
sible for party leaders to buy up voters, and be sure that 
they voted as they were told. A good deal of bribery and 
intimidation in elections was the natural consequence. 

The Australian Ballot. — By an important law passed in 
1888, Massachusetts introduced for the first time in an 
American state a new kind of ballot known as the " Aus- 
tralian " ballot, after the country in which it was first used. 
Under this new system (i) the government prints " official " 
ballots for all elections ; (2) the names of the candidates of 

2P 



578 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

all parties are placed on the same ballot; (3) the ballots can 
be procured only at the polling places from public officers ; 
and (4) the voter must mark in secret the names of the 
candidates for whom he votes. Thus it is very difficult for 
any one who has bribed or threatened a voter to be sure 
that " the goods have been delivered/' This reform, along 
with others designed to purify elections, has done much 
to drive bribery and cheating from American politics. 
Other states in the Union followed the example of Massa- 
chusetts, and at the opening of the twentieth century 
nearly all had adopted the Australian ballot in some form. 

The Initiative and Referendum. — Ballot reform had 
not been in operation very long before some citizens, par- 
ticularly in the western states, began to advocate other 
changes in government. BeUeving that the legislatures had 
passed laws which the people did not want and had refused 
to pass other laws which they did want, reformers insisted 
that the voters at the polls should have a chance to express 
their opinions on laws as well as to select public officers. 
They adopted a plan known as the initiative and ref- 
erendum, in use in Switzerland. 

The initiative permits private citizens to draw up a bill, 
and, on securing the signatures of a certain percentage of 
the voters, to have it submitted directly to all the voters at 
an election. If this bill proposed by the initiative receives 
a sufficient majority, it becomes a law. 

The referendum allows citizens who do not like an act 
passed by the legislature to get up a petition and require 
the submission of that measure to the voters at the polls 
for their approval or rejection. These two devices consti- 
tute what is known as " direct government," because they 
enable the voters to make laws directly, without the inter- 
vention of any elected officers whatever. 

The new plan was adopted, for the first time in any state, 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 579 

by South Dakota, in 1 898. Four years later, Oregon followed 
the example of South Dakota. Nevada adopted part of the 
plan in 1905, and other states soon followed : Montana, Okla- 
homa, Michigan, Maine, Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, New 
Mexico, California, Ohio, Nebraska, Washington, Idaho, 
and North Dakota. While these states were adopting the 
plan, more than three hundred cities put it into effect in the 
making of ordinances or local laws. 

The Recall; — In 1904 a new scheme for securing voters 
still more power, known as the "recall,'' was initiated at 
Los Angeles. The recall permits a certain percentage of the 
voters (25 per cent in Oregon) who are dissatisfied with a 
public officer to get up a petition against him at any time, 
and compel him either to resign or to submit himself at a 
new election to the judgment of his fellow citizens. The 
spread of this reform has not been so rapid as that of the 
initiative and referendum. By the year 1916, it was in 
force in only eight states — Washington, California, Oregon, 
Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, Michigan, and Colorado. It 
was widely appHed, however, in more than two hundred 
city governments in all parts of the country. 

III. The Commission Form of City Government; Re- 
forms IN Political Parties ; the Direct Primary 

The Rise of Commission Govermnent. — While searching for 
better things citizens began to criticize the old-fashioned 
city government by mayor and councilmen. In the year 
1900 a great storm, which destroyed a large portion of the city 
of Galveston, Texas, led to an important experiment. A 
committee of citizens drew up a new scheme of government 
abolishing the mayor and council and putting the whole 
management of pubhc business into the hands of five com- 
missioners, one of whom, without any extra powers, was to 



58o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



serve as a Mayor-President. This " commission '* plan 
was shortly afterward put into force in Galveston, and in 
1908 it was adopted by the city of Des Moines, Iowa. From 
that time forward the spread of the plan was rapid, until 
by 1916 more than three hundred cities, including some 
of the first rank, such as St. Paul, Memphis, Spokane, Bir- 
mingham, Newark, and Buffalo, had adopted it in one form 
or another. 

The City Manager Plan. — The commission scheme of gov- 
ernment had hardly been tested before an addition was 
made to it. It was found difficult for the five commissioners 

to supervise properly all the de- 
tails of the city's business and 
some one suggested that they 
should elect a " manager '' to do 
this for them. So the commis- 
sioner-manager plan was devised. 
Under this scheme the commis- 
sioners merely act as a town coun- 
cil, pass ordinances, vote money, 
and make general plans, while 
the actual carrying out of the 
pubHc business is intrusted to a 
man whom they choose, known as the city manager. The 
plan was adopted in 1912 at Sumter, South Carohna, and 
later by larger cities, including Springfield and Dayton, 
Ohio, and Phoenix, Arizona. 

Evils in the Management of Political Parties. — Not a few 
of the evils which appeared in government were attributed 
by critical citizens to the way in which the political 
parties were managed. The political party had grown up 
as a wholly voluntary society, like a social club or an 
association for some special purpose. Party members were 
supposed to conduct their party affairs as they pleased. 




Commissioner-Manager Plan 
OF City Governmemt 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 581 

It was thought to be nobody's business how they elected 
the chairman and other officers of their town, city, county, 
state, and national committees. Each party made its 
own plan for conducting its affairs and was permitted 
to select candidates for local, state, and national offices as 
it saw fit. 

Nominations hy Conventions. — It was the common prac- 
tice until the early part of the twentieth century for each 
party to select its officers and candidates at " conventions." 
A convention was merely an assembly of party workers 
selected by the party voters at local caucuses or meet- 
ings. For example, the Republican national convention 
was composed of four delegates "at large "^ from each 
state and two delegates from each congressional district. 
Only those citizens who gave a great deal of attention 
to politics attended caucuses and conventions. As a rule 
only about ten or twenty per cent of the voters in each of 
the poHtical parties took any interest in the selection of 
party officers and party candidates. 

The Direct Primary. — Those who had time to spare for 
politics naturally secured the party offices and selected the 
party candidates. They became known as the " bosses " or 
party leaders. When things went wrong in the govern- 
ment, they were attacked. 

A demand then arose that the party convention should 
be abolished and the "direct primary" substituted for it. 
Under this system, the voters of each party choose at the 
polls their leaders and candidates. The first state to have 
a general direct primary was Wisconsin, which adopted it 
in 1903. The other states followed rapidly, and by 191 5 
nearly all the states had given up the convention in favor of 
the direct primary. 

^That is, the four were not chosen one from each of four districts but 
simply named together on one ticket. 



582 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

The Popular Election of United States Senators. — ^The prog- 
ress of " direct " government brought a demand for the 
election of United States Senators by popular vote instead 
of by the state legislatures. This reform had been urged in 
Congress as early as 1826; President Johnson had advo- 
cated it in 1868; and in 1893 the House of Representatives 
had passed a constitutional amendment for direct election, 
only to be blocked by the Senate. Failing to make head- 
way with the federal amendment the advocates of the new 
plan worked in the states, applying the principle of the 
direct primary to the selection of candidates for the United 
States Senate, in some instances binding the legislatures to 
accept the popular choice. By 1910 three fourths of the 
states nominated candidates for the United States Senate 
by the direct primary. The next year both houses of Con- 
gress passed the long-debated constitutional amendment. 
It was promptly ratified by the required number of states 
and on May 31, 1913, proclaimed a part of the Constitution 
of the United States as the Seventeenth Amendment. 



IV. Woman Suffrage 

Early Hope for a Federal Amendment. — With the awak- 
ening interest in popular governrhent there came a re- 
vival of the agitation for woman suffrage. The suffra- 
gists, as we have seen, were defeated in their attempt 
to secure an amendment to the federal Constitution giv- 
ing the ballot to women at the time that the slaves were 
emancipated and enfranchised. Then they realized that 
they must win a few states before they could get a real 
hearing at the national capital. 

Suffragists Turn to the States. — The first state campaign 
of importance opened in Kansas. In 1861 the right to 
vote in school elections had been extended there to women, 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 



583 



and six years later the proposition to grant complete suffrage 
was submitted to the voters. In this campaign, women 
speakers traveled day and night over miles of wild prairie 
and spoke in depots, barns, mills, churches, schoolhouses- 




PlONEERb IN THE \\ OMAN SUFfEAGE MOVEMENT 

Seated left to right: Mrs. Rebecca B. Spring, Miss Susan B. Anthony. Standing: Mrs. Caroline 

M. Severance, Mrs. Charlotte LeMoyne Wills 



and in the open air on the very frontiers of civiHzation, 
wherever a few people could be brought together. The 
women were defeated, but they secured a respectable vote. 
Success in the West. — Their first victory was not until 
many years later. As a territory Wyoming had given 



f 



584 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

women the vote in 1869; twenty years afterward, in 1889, 
it came into the Union as the first state with equal pohtical 
rights for "all male and female citizens." The second state 
to enfranchise women was Colorado. After years of agita- 
tion the women won the vote in 1893. The third state was 
Utah. Suffrage had been granted to women when Utah was 
a territory, but Congress, in 1887, took it away from them. 
In 1896, after Utah had become a state, it established once 
more the principle of equal suffrage. The fourth state was 
Idaho, which gave the ballot to women in 1896. 

Decline and Revival in the Suffrage Movement. — After the 
adoption of woman suffrage in Idaho in 1896, there followed 
a long period during which no gains were made, although at 
least twenty campaigns were carried on in various sections of 
the Union. In 19 10, however, another wave of enthusiasm 
for woman suffrage began to sweep the cause forward. In 
that year the state of Washington gave women the ballot. In 
191 1 California was added to the suffrage states. In 1912 
three more states granted equal suffrage — Oregon, Arizona, 
and Kansas. In 1913 the territory of Alaska followed their 
example, and the legislature of Illinois granted women 
the right to vote for a large number of offices, including 
the President of the United States. The next year, 1914, 
Nevada and Montana, and in 1917, New York, extended the 
franchise to women, thus making in all twelve states with 
full suffrage, and a thirteenth, Illinois, with presidential and 
limited local suffrage. Some other states also enacted 
presidential suffrage laws. While making these great gains, 
the suffragists were defeated in several eastern states 
— Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Maine, and Massachusetts. 

Suffrage Agitation at Washington. — As early as 1868, a 
proposition to establish woman suffrage by federal amendment 
had been introduced in Congress, and in January, 1878, the fa- 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 



585 



mous " Susan B. Anthony amendment " had been proposed 
by Senator Sargent of CaHfornia : " The right of citizens of 
the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United 
States or by any state on account of sex." The women 
founded the National Woman's Suffrage Association, and 
every year after 1878 they made pilgrimages to Washington 




f 1912 

I I Full Suffrage "^^ 

I * I Primary Suffrage 

gJ?n Presidential Suffrage 

^S3 Municipal Suffrage 

KK'v<< Presidential & Municipal Suffrage 

^^ Municipal Suffrage in Charter Cities 

■11 School Bond or Tax 

^^ Xo Suffrage for Women 



Courtesy oj " The Woman Citizen ' 

Suffrage Map of the United States 



with petitions and arguments, asking for the passage of 
their amendment. In 1913, a more radical suffrage or- 
ganization, The Congressional Union, came into the field. 
The newcomers said to the members of Congress and to the 
President: "If you do not pass our national amendment, 
we are going into the states where the women vote and ask 
them not to return you to office." 

Progress of the Federal Amendment. — In the campaign 
of 1916, woman suffrage became one of the prominent 
issues. The Republican party, "as a measure of justice to 
one half of the adult population," favored the extension of 



586 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

suflFrage to women, but recognized the right of each state 
to settle the question for itself. The Democratic party 
recommended " the extension of the franchise to the 
women of the country by the states upon the same terms 
as to men." The Republican candidate, Mr. Hughes, went 
beyond his platform and, in an open letter, indorsed the 
granting of suffrage by the federal amendment, but Mr. 
Wilson, who had announced his belief in woman suffrage 
in 191 5, insisted that victory should be won state by state. 
The growing strength of the women voters and the victory 
in New York forced the passage of the suffrage amendment 
by the House of Representatives on January 10, 1918, 
President Wilson, at last, having used his influence in its 
favor. The suffragists then turned with confidence to the 
Senate, expecting it to pass the amendment at an early 
date. 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. In what way did the development of free schools create 
a demand for better government ? 2. What were some of the 
evil practices that had crept into state and city governments f 
3. How did it happen that Mr. Bryce, an Englishman, could 
have had so large an influence in improving government in 
America } 4. What new problems of government came with 
the rapid growth of the cities ? 5. What other influences led 
to awakened interest of the people in governmental matters ? 

II. I. At about what time did the states begin to adopt 
civil-service reform .? In what ways are the employees of state 
and city governments better off under civil service than they 
were before these reforms ? 2. Describe the older method of 
providing ballots for elections. What were the dangers in the 
older method ? 3. What is meant by the "Australian ballot" ? 
What is meant by the "secret ballot" ? How have these changes 
done away with many of the older evils ? 4. Describe the 
operation of an initiative and referendum law. What are the 
advantages of such a law .? What is meant by the "recall" .? 

III. I. What are the principal differences between the com- 



1 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 587 

mission form of city government and the older method of govern- 
ing cities through a mayor and a common council or board of 
aldermen? 2. What is a "city manager"? In what ways 
is a city manager like a city superintendent of schools ? 

IV. , I. Describe the way in which candidates for public 
offices were nominated by political parties. What are the dangers 
in this system? 2. What is meant by the "direct primary*' 
election ? How does it differ from other elections ? 

V. I. What led the advocates of woman suffrage to urge the 
states to adopt amendments giving women the right to vote ? 
What were the first states to adopt such amendments ? In how 
many states are women now permitted to vote for all important 
officers of the government ? 



Problems for Further Study 

1. If you live in a city, find out whether the employees of the city 
government are under civil service, and if not whether they are 
likely to lose their places whenever a new party comes into power. 
If you live in a small town or village, find out what officers are 
responsible for the public business of the community — for the 
roads, sidewalks, street lights, and the like. 

2. Boards of aldermen are usually elected by wards; that is, 
each ward sends one or more people to represent it in the law- 
making body of the city. Under the commission form of city 
government, the commissioners are usually chosen "at large," 
that is, without reference to the particular districts of the city in 
which they happen to live. Discuss the advantages and dis- 
advantages of these two methods. 

3. Organize your class under the commission form of govern- 
ment, using the Australian ballot system for electing the com- 
missioners. 



CHAPTER XXXII 
THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 

I. Roosevelt's Administration; the Conservation 
Movement 

A New Type of Political Leadership. — With the inaugu- 
ration of President Roosevelt after the assassination of 
President McKinley in September, 1901, a new period 
in the political history of the United States opened. For 
the first time there was in the White House a President 
who discussed with great vigor and earnestness the general 
questions of capital and labor, riches and poverty, which 
had been raised by the industrial progress of his own 
day. During his two administrations, Mr. Roosevelt 
attacked " malefactors of great wealth " who grew rich 
by monopolies or cheated the public by various fraudulent 
schemes, and he denounced also " false labor leaders " 
who induced trade unions to commit acts of violence in 
times of strikes and labor disputes. He advocated taxing 
incomes and the inheritances of the rich, largely for the 
purpose of leveling down some of the great inequalities 
in wealth. He was especially earnest in his demand that 
the forests, minerals, and other natural resources of the 
country, which had been so lavishly used by individuals 
and companies, should be conserved for the generations 
to come. 

The Conservation Movement. Leading - Advocates. — 
Thoughtful men on the western frontier had long wanted to 

588 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 



589 



transform vast desert areas into gardens by water from 
the mountains. John Wesley Powell, who had explored 
the Grand Canon of the Colorado, early advocated the 
construction of large dams for storing water from the 



Jliiili;! ^H 




pmif^- 



, President Roosevelt Discussing National Questions 

mountain streams so that it could be slowly fed out to 
the plains. F. H. Newell, who was also in the govern- 
ment service, pointed out the importance of taking care 
of the forests on the mountain sides, in order to hold the 
soil and prevent the spring freshets from carrying down 
to sea thousands of tons of rich earth. GifFord Pin- 



590 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

chot, for many years a student of forestry and later head of 
the forestry bureau in the federal government, took leader- 
ship in urging the conservation of all the natural re- 
sources : forests, water supplies, and minerals, as well as 
the irrigation of the arid lands. Senator Newlands, of 




The Arrowrock Dam above Boise on the Boise River 

Nevada, who knew the problems of the West at first hand, 
year in and year out pressed upon Congress the urgent 
necessity for action. 

The Reclamation Act {1Q02). — As a result of the demands 
of public-spirited citizens. Congress passed, on June 17, 1902, 
the Reclamation Act — a law for redeeming the arid regions 
of the West. This law provided that the money collected 
by the federal government from the sale of public lands 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 



591 



be used to build dams and store water for gradual dis- 
tribution over desert areas. The lands thus reclaimed 
were to be sold by the government to settlers and certain 
charges made for the use of the water. The money secured 
by the government from the settlers was to be used to 
construct new dams and irrigation works, so that a large 
fund would be provided forever to bring additional 




National Forests, 19 18 

lands under cultivation. Work was immediately begun 
under this plan. In the spring of 191 1 the Roosevelt 
Dam in Arizona was built, and the erection of other plants 
went forward rapidly. 

The National Forests. — While the irrigation work was 
under way, attention was being given to the forest lands 
owned by the federal government. In .1906 the cattle 
rangers who turned their sheep and cattle loose to graze in 
the national forests were compelled to pay the government 
for the privilege. In the same year the government began 



r. 



592 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the practice of renting to electric companies the right to 
use the water power on the government lands, instead of 
either giving that privilege away or seUing it at a small sum. 
The next year, 1907, President Roosevelt, following an 
example set by President Cleveland years before, by a 
single proclamation added to the permanent national 
forests a vast area of forty-three million acres. In 
order to protect these forests against fire and marauders, 
a force of forest rangers was estabhshed, roads and trails 
were built, and telephone lines put up. By this system 
it was possible for the rangers to communicate rapidly 
with one another, spread the alarm whenever a fire broke 
out, and concentrate forces for fighting it. Before the 
new plans were adopted it was common for a single fire 
to sweep away thousands of acres of valuable timber. 
So effective was the fire-prevention work that in 1908 only 
about 15 per cent of the fires that broke out in the 
national forests spread over more than five acres. 

II. The Panama Canal. The Treaty of Portsmouth 

Early History. — From the day when Balboa struggled 
across the narrow isthmus and beheld the waters of 
the Pacific down to our time, men had dreamed of cutting 
across the strip of land which compelled ships sailing 
between New York and San Francisco to take the journey 
around Cape Horn. Great Britain was interested in this 
project because she had more merchant ships on the 
high seas than any other country in the world ; and the 
United States was interested in it because manufacturers 
and farmers, who had produce and goods to ship across 
great stretches of the American continent, were anxious to 
find lower freight rates than the railroads could grant. 
Indeed before the days of railroads the matter was seri- 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 



593 



ously considered, and in 1850 the United States and Great 
Britain, by the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, agreed that a canal 
might be built by a private corporation under their joint 
supervision. Nothing came of this proposal. Then in 1881 
Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was celebrated throughout 
the world for his achievement in building the Suez Canal, 
organized a French company and began the work of cutting 




120° 140'' 160" 180=' 160° 140° 120° 100" S0<= \A^ 60' 40 



0° SO" 40° 



V n.s. Eng. Co., iJ,K 

The Principal Trade Routes through the Panama Canal 



across the Isthmus of Panama. After spending millions 
of francs and losing hundreds of lives, the French company 
gave up the task in despair. There was a lull in public 
interest in the canal, until the attention of the people of the 
United States was forcibly drawn to it again by the historic 
voyage of the battleship Oregon around the Horn, at the 
outbreak of the Spanish War. 

New Treaty with Great Britain. — After the Spanish 
War was over, many people came to the conclusion 
that the United States alone should control any canal 

2Q 



r. 



594 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

which might be built to connect the Atlantic and the 
Pacific. In 1901 another arrangement, known as the Hay- 
Pauncefote Treaty, was made with Great Britain, setting 
aside the old agreement. This new contract provided that 
the canal should be constructed under the sole direction of 
the United States, either at its own cost or by a private 
company under its control. The United States agreed that 
the canal should be free and open to the vessels of all nations, 
and that there should be no discriminations in tolls against 
any nation or its citizens. 

Dispute over the Routes. — The next great question con- 
fronting the country was where and how the canal should 
be built. After much dispute Congress, in June, 1902, 
ordered that the French company's claims in Panama 
should be bought and that arrangements should be made 
with the Republic of Colombia to purchase the strip of ter- 
ritory through which to build the canal. It was provided, 
however, that, if an agreement could not be made with 
Colombia, the route through Nicaragua should be chosen. 

The Panama ^'Revolution." — The government of the United 
States then undertook to acquire the canal strip, only to find 
Colombia unwilling to accept the terms offered. President 
Roosevelt was vexed by this, because he thought that Co- 
lombia was taking advantage of theopportunity to exact more 
money from theUnited States than the land was worth. Some 
of the inhabitants in Panama were also displeased about it. 
They were anxious to see work on- the canal begun, because 
it meant the spending of millions of dollars there and great 
prosperity for that region. In the autumn of 1903 the 
people of Panama, feeling certain that the United States 
would uphold them, revolted against Colombia. President 
Roosevelt, who had sent naval forces down to watch the 
course of events, at once acknowledged the independence 
of the new republic. Early in the next year a treaty was 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 



595 



made with Panama, authorizing the United States to con- 
struct and operate a canal through the zone. 

The Canal Built. — The plan of the canal was then taken 
up and it was decided in 1906, after a long wrangle in 
Congress, to build great locks instead of attempting to cut 
through a channel level with the sea. By an order of Jan- 




Boundaries of the ZoTie 

iiiiii i Hi iiiiiii Panama Railroad 
Panama Canal 
- Locks 



PACIFIC OCEAN 



The Panama Canal Zone, the Canal, and the Railroad 



uary 6, 1908, President Roosevelt appointed Colonel Goe- 
thals as head of the commission to carry out the enterprise. 
Way for the work had been prepared by Dr. Gorgas who 
had made the canal zone a place where workmen could Kve 
with safety to their health. The failure of the French com- 
pany had been partly due to the fevers and other diseases 
which swept men away by the hundreds. The American 
government, profiting by that experience, provided marvel- 



596 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ous sanitary conditions in advance. When all was ready, 
thousands of workingmen with engines, dredges, locomotives, 
and supplies were brought together, and a mighty army well 
equipped started to realize the grand dream. In spite of 
many discouragements, particularly the slides from the 



fit! ^irf--r 




\rfcF- 



The Alliance Passing through Gatun Locks, Panama Canal 
This was the first ocean steamship to pass through the canal. 

mountain sides into the channel and the crumbling of 
foundations for the locks, the great work was brought to a 
successful close and in 191 3 the waters of the Atlantic and 
the Pacific were joined. 

Foreign Affairs. The Russo-Japanese Treaty. — Mr. 
Roosevelt also took a deep interest in what was going on in 
all the world outside the United States, He watched with 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 597 

grave concern the progress of the war between Japan 
and Russia which broke out in 1904, and early in the fol- 
lowing year he came to the conclusion that the further 
continuance of the war " would be a very bad thing for 
Japan and even a worse thing for Russia." He therefore 
suggested to them that they should begin peace negotia- 
tions. As both of them were in dire straits for money to 
carry on the*war, they welcomed this opportunity and sent 
their agents to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to confer 
upon the terms of peace. President Roosevelt took keen 
satisfaction in opening the conference between the repre- 
sentatives of the two powers, and counted among the most 
noteworthy events of his administration the successful 
ending of the war. 

The Journey of the Fleet around the World (1908). — In 
order to impress other nations with the interest of the 
United States in world affairs, President Roosevelt directed 
an American fleet of sixteen battleships to sail out of 
Hampton Roads for a trip around the world by way of the 
Straits of Magellan, San Francisco, Australia, the Philip- 
pines, China, Japan, and the Suez Canal. This enterprise 
caught the attention of every nation, and in the United 
States the people learned more about the navy in a few 
weeks than they could have learned in any other way. 

The Election of 1908. — As Mr. Roosevelt's administra- 
tion was drawing to a close many of his friends urged him 
to become a candidate for the presidency a second time. 
They said that he had really served only one elective term, 
beginning in 1905, ruling out of account his service as 
successor to President McKinley. Mr. Roosevelt refused 
the nomination, however, declaring that his Secretary of 
War, William Howard Taft, should be selected as his 
successor. He was able to secure Mr. Taft's nomination 
by the RepubHcans in 1908. The Democrats, having 



598 



THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



failed miserably in 1904 with an eastern candidate, Judge 
Alton B. Parker of New York, turned once more to the 
West and chose Mr. Bryan, who had already twice been 
their standard bearer. In the election which followed Mr. 
Bryan was defeated for the third time. Mr. Taft was 
inaugurated President on March 4, 1909. 



III. Taft's Administration and the Campaign of 1912 

Tariff-Revision and the Income Tax. — -The first task which 
interested the new President upon taking the oath of office 
was that of revising the tariff. More than ten years had 

elapsed since the passage of the 
last tariff law — the Dingley act 
of 1897 — and the rapid progress 
which had taken place in industry 
suggested that the time had come 
to change the rates of the duty 
levied on many imported products. 
Accordingly Mr. Taft called a 
special session of Congress, which 
met on March 11, 1909 and fash- 
ioned a new tariff law. This meas- 
ure, although it reduced the duties 
on many goods, was on the whole highly protective. In- 
deed, many Republicans denounced it. Several of them, 
particularly from the West, broke away from the party 
and voted against it. The Democrats, who had advocated 
a decided reduction in the duties, immediately attacked 
the law. 

In addition to the tariff act Congress passed another 
measure of great importance in the summer of 1909; 
namely, a resolution amending the Constitution of the 
United States, to give Congress power to collect taxes on in- 




WiLLiAM H. Taft 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 599 

comes from whatever source derived (p. 526). The resolu- 
tion was approved by three fourths of the states and put 
into effect in 191 3, as the Sixteenth Amendment. 

Postal Savings Banks. — Two other important laws were 
passed during President Taft's administration. The first of 
these, enacted in 1910, provided for a system of savings 
banks to be conducted by the post offices of the United 
States government. This had long been demanded as a 
help to people who could make only small savings and 
needed some absolutely secure place to deposit them. 

The Parcel Post. — A law creating a system of parcel 
post had been urged in Congress for many years, but it 
was vigorously opposed, especially by the representatives of 
express companies. They contended that their business 
would be ruined if the government should undertake to 
carry parcels, as well as letters and papers, at a low 
rate. After much debate Congress, by a law which 
went into effect January i, 1913, ordered the Post Office 
Department to lay the country out into zones and to pro- 
vide low rates for carrying and delivering certain kinds of 
parcels. 

Dissolution of the Trusts. — Mr. Taft insisted that some 
of the great trusts and combinations, Hke the Standard Oil 
Company and the American Tobacco Company, were 
violating the Sherman Anti-trust Law of 1890, and he 
instructed the Attorney General to press the prosecutions 
begun against these concerns in Mr. Roosevelt's adminis- 
tration. In May, 191 1, the Supreme Court handed down 
decisions declaring that these two companies were violating 
the law by unduly restraining or interfering with business. 
Each one of them was accordingly broken up into several 
companies, which were supposed to compete with each other 
and thus prevent monopohes from arbitrarily fixing the 
prices of oil and tobacco products. 



6oo THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Growing Dissatisfaction with Republican Rule. — Notwith- 
standing President Taft's work in securing a revision of the 
tariff, prosecuting the trusts, and urging such reforms as 
the postal savings-bank law, there was much discontent 
in the country with the RepubKcan party. In the House of 
Representatives the Democrats complained that the Speaker, 
Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, conducted business in an 
arbitrary manner and did not give the ordinary member 
of the House a chance to be heard. Some Republicans 
shared this view, and in March, 1910, after stormy and 
exciting scenes, the House reduced Speaker Cannon's power 
by ousting him from the committee on rules and depriving 
him of the right to appoint its members. In the autumn 
of 1910 the discontent among the voters was so widespread 
that the Republicans were turned out of power in the House 
and a majority of Democratic representatives was elected. 

Quarrels between Congress and President Taft. — The re- 
maining years of Mr. Taft's administration were marked by 
dissensions between himself and Congress. The Democrats 
in the House, as a matter of course, insisted on having a 
revision of the tariff which would materially reduce the 
duties, particularly on woolen goods, sugar, agricultural 
implements, and iron and steel products. Indeed, with the 
aid of independent Republicans in the Senate, tariff-reform 
measures were passed, only to be vetoed by the President. 

The President was sorely disappointed when, in 191 1, 
a large number of Republicans voted against his plan to 
establish reciprocity of trade with Canada. After it was 
finally adopted by Congress, Canada rejected it. He was 
able to secure no other important legislation, with the 
Democrats in power in the House of Representatives and 
a large number of Republicans dissatisfied with his policies. 

The Progressive Republicans. —A group of Mr. Taft's 
party colleagues who opposed his administration called 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 6oi 

themselves Progressive Republicans, and as early as 191 1 
began to hold meetings with a view to preventing his re- 
nomination. Senator LaFoUette, of Wisconsin, took the 
leadership in this movement and became a candidate for the 
nomination. In February, 191 2, Roosevelt also entered 
the lists against Taft. 

The Republican Presidential Primary. — A number of states, 
including Oregon, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and 
Massachusetts, had passed presidential-primary laws giving 
the voters the right to express their choice for President 
directly at the polls. Taking advantage of the opportunity 
to appeal directly to the party voters, Roosevelt and Taft 
took the stump, each endeavoring to secure a majority of 
delegates. When the Republican convention met at Chicago 
it was found that many of the states had sent two contest- 
ing delegations, one instructed for Roosevelt and the other 
for Taft. 

The Split in the Republican Convention. — At once there 
arose a dispute over the right of these contesting delegates 
to sit in the convention. After a long dispute enough of 
Taft's delegates were seated to assure his nomination. 
Thereupon Roosevelt's friends "bolted" the convention, de- 
claring that their rights had been "stolen" from them. After 
the "bolters" were gone, the remaining delegates proceeded 
to choose Taft as the Republican candidate for President. 

Formation of the Progressive Party. — So strong was the 
opposition of Roosevelt's friends to the conduct of the 
Republican convention that they decided to found a new 
organization known as the "Progressive Party." They 
called a convention of Progressive delegates at Chicago in 
August. 

The Progressives at their first national assembly nominated 
Roosevelt for the presidency and put forward a platform 
favoring many doctrines that had formerly been advocated 



602 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

only by minor parties. They indorsed such reforms as 
direct presidential primaries, the initiative and referendum, 
popular election of United States Senators, the short ballot, 
and woman suffrage. They approved, also, many measures 
in favor of labor, such as the prohibition of child labor, 
minimum wages for women and children, and the protection 
of the working people by laws safeguarding their health and 
safety. The Progressives also denounced all attempts to 
break up the great trusts and combinations, and urged in- 
stead that these should be so regulated as to prevent them 
from charging exorbitant prices and mistreating competitors. 
The Democrats Nominate Woodrow Wilson. — The split 
in the Republican Party was greeted with joy by the 
Democrats, whose convention met at Baltimore on June 
25th. When the convention assembled it was discovered 
that, while Champ Clark, of Missouri, had a majority 
of all the delegates, he could not secure the nomination 
because it required a two-thirds vote. After a long contest, 
Mr. Bryan threw his support to Governor Woodrow Wilson 
of New Jersey and secured his nomination. In the election 
which followed, the Democrats were easily victorious. 



IV. Wilson's Administration 

New Laws. — When Mr. Wilson was inaugurated on 
March 4, 1913, certain tasks lay clearly before the Demo- 
cratic party ; and under President Wilson's open and vigor- 
ous leadership Congress enacted an unusually striking 
program of legislation : 

I. The Tariff. The first task was the fulfillment of the 
pledge to revise the tariff, and accordingly the President 
called a special session to undertake that work. After many 
months of debate and the firm insistence of the President 
that there should be no neglect of duty. Congress passed the 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 603 

Underwood-Simmons bill, which for the first time in dec- 
ades materially reduced the tariff on many important 
commodities. 

2. Income Tax. With the tariff measure Congress coupled 
a law imposing a tax on incomes, making up, in part at 
least, for the revenue lost by the reduction of the tariff. 

3. Clayton Law. Congress then enacted the Clayton 
Anti-trust Law, which was designed to destroy the great 
monopolies and trusts by breaking them up into small con- 
cerns and by prohibiting underselling and unfair methods 
of many kinds. The same law declared that labor was 
not a commodity, and that labor unions were not trusts 
or combinations in restraint of trade, liable to prosecution 
for interference with wages and conditions of employment. 
Congress also provided that whenever the judge of a 
federal court issued an order or injunction forbidding 
strikers to carry out their plans, he could not imprison 
them for disobeying without affording them the right of 
trial by jury. 

4. Federal Reserve Law. The law against the trusts was 
followed by an act creating a new federal banking system 
designed among other things to reduce the power of great 
banking centers like New York (p. 531). 

Troubles with Mexico. — On the day of his inaugura- 
tion President Wilson faced serious troubles with Mexico. 
In 191 1 a revolution had broken out there and General 
Porfirio Diaz, who, as president, had long ruled the coun- 
try with an iron hand, was overthrown. His successor, 
Francisco Madero, was hardly installed before he was 
assassinated and a dictatorship set up under General Huerta 
in February, 1913. 

American Interests in Mexico. — The disturbances in 
Mexico were of serious moment to the United States. Many 
American citizens in that country were killed in the course 



604 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

of the civil war, and the Hves of others were in constant 
jeopardy. Americans who had milHons of dollars invested 
in Mexican mines, oil wells, plantations, and other ventures 
found their incomes cut ofF and their property destroyed 
or seized. During Mr. Taft's administration the situation 
had already become so serious that he felt impelled to 
warn the Mexican government against violating American 
rights. His warning was without effect, and Mr. Wilson, 
on assuming authority, was urged to send troops into 
Mexico to protect American interests and restore order. 

The Vera Cruz Expedition. — From the very beginning, 
however, President Wilson insisted that the Mexicans had a 
right to settle their own problems and that the United 
States government ought not to wage war on them. It was 
argued that the tyrannical government of General Diaz and 
the cruel treatment of peons or serfs on the plantations 
had been largely responsible for the revolution, and that the 
Mexicans should be permitted to work out their destiny in 
their own way. Of course, this meant that there would 
be much disorder, and perhaps some loss of American 
property and life. President Wilson, however, refused to 
recognize Huerta as president, attempted settlement by 
negotiations with revolutionary leaders, and sent an ex- 
pedition to Vera Cruz, which resulted in the flight of 
Huerta. 

United States Troops Sent into Mexico. — The President's 
patience was exhausted in the spring of 1916 when a 
Mexican bandit, Villa, with a small troop, crossed into 
New Mexico and deliberately murdered a number of 
American citizens. It was apparent that the Mexican 
president, Carranza, who in the counter-revolution of 1913 
had succeeded Huerta, was unable to prevent such outrages, 
and President Wilson dispatched divisions of the regular 
army and the national guard to the border. He ordered 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 605 

General Pershing to follow Villa and seize him if possible. 
Under this order, American troops penetrated more than 
a hundred miles into Mexico, but they were unable to 
capture the troublesome bandit. The prospect of war 
with Germany early in 1917 made it impossible for the 
United States to give so much attention to Mexican affairs 
and American troops were withdrawn. President Carranza 
was given a free rein in his efforts to bring peace and good 
order to his distracted country. 

The Caribbean. The Nature of American Interests. — • 
The policy of non-intervention was not pursued by Presi- 
dent Wilson in the case of Haiti and the Dominican Re- 
public, where disorders were raging about the same time. 
The island of Haiti is a part of the important Caribbean 
region, one of a long chain of islands stretching from 
the coast of Florida to the coast of South America. It 
lies in a direct line between Cuba, now under the pro- 
tection of the United States, and the island of Porto Rico. 
It also lies athwart the route from Europe to the Panama 
Canal, and if it should fall into the hands of a hostile 
European power it would be a source of danger to American 
interests. 

The Dominican Republic. — The significance of the island 
had long been understood by American statesmen. In 
1905 the Dominican Republic, which occupies the eastern 
portion, was in a state of financial distress, and France 
and Italy were preparing to collect by force of arms, if 
necessary, debts due their citizens. President Roosevelt, 
on the request of the Dominican president, assumed the 
role of mediator. By a treaty of 1907 the government of 
the United States undertook to manage the revenues of 
the little republic and pay the creditors, thus forestalling 
European intervention. Four years later, one of- the 
periodical revolutions from which the republic suffers — 



6o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

there were twenty between 1865 and 1895 — broke out, 
and continued until President Wilson came into office. 
In October, 1914, American officers and marines were in- 
structed to " supervise " the elections in the republic. 
Later, American troops were employed to put down a re- 
volt which arose in connection with the elections. It be- 
came evident, therefore, that the government of the United 
States had adopted the policy of keeping order there, and 
for practical purposes the Dominican Republic was a 
" protectorate " of this country. 

Haiti. — A similar condition of affairs obtained in the 
neighboring republic of Haiti. In the summer of 191 5 
a revolution broke out, — one of a continuous series 
lasting from 1804 to the opening of the twentieth century — 
and American marines were landed to restore order. In 
September, 1916, a treaty was made with Haiti by which the 
United States undertook to control the police and manage 
the finances. 

The Purchase oj the Danish West Indies. — In line with 
this policy of guarding American interests in the Caribbean 
was the purchase of the Danish Islands just off the eastern 
coast of Porto Rico, in 1917. Twice before, the United 
States had arranged to buy these islands : once in 1867, when 
the American Senate refused to agree to the purchase, and 
again in 1902, when the Upper House of the Danish parlia- 
ment, no doubt under the influence of Germany, voted 
against the plan. When the last treaty of purchase was 
made with Denmark, Germany, being engaged in a life 
and death struggle, was in no position to interfere. So in 
the summer of 1917 the Stars and Stripes were hoisted over 
the Virgin Islands, — St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. 



THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 607 

Questions and Exercises 

I. I. What is the meaning of the phrase ''conservation of 
natural resources" ? What natural resources have been needlessly 
wasted in this country? This waste has been called a ''crime 
against posterity"; what is meant by this statement ? 2. What 
is meant by "irrigation"? How is the irrigation of arid 
lands usually accomplished ? What are the advantages of 
farming under a system of artificial irrigation as compared with 
farming where one depends upon rainfall ? What are the dis- 
advantages ? 

n. I. When and by whom was the first attempt made to 
construct a Panama canal ? What led to a renewal of interest 
in this project ? 2. From a study of the map of Central America 
find what advantages the Nicaragua route for the canal between 
the oceans had over the Panama route. What were its dis- 
advantages ? 3. How did the United States come into possession 
of the Canal Zone ? 4. When was the American work on the 
canal begun ? When w^as the canal opened ? 5. Whose name 
is connected with the digging of the canal, and what difficulties 
did this man overcome ? 6. What war was ended by the Treaty 
of Portsmouth ? 

HI. I. Why was there so keen a demand for postal savings 
banks? For the "parcel post"? Why were these extensions 
of the government's service to the people opposed ? 2. What 
great "trusts" were "dissolved" in 1911 ? What did this "dis- 
solution" mean ? 3. What were the causes of President Taft's 
difficulties with Congress ? 4. What new party was formed in 
191 2 ? What led to its organization ? 5. What is the difference 
between the "popular" vote for President and the "electoral" 
vote ? Why did the framers of the Constitution provide for the 
election of the President by means of the "electoral college" ? 
Under what conditions is a candidate likely to be elected without 
receiving a majority of the popular vote ? (Lincoln, Cleveland, 
and Wilson have been "minority" presidents, each in one of his 
two terms.) 

IV. I. What important laws were passed in the early part of 
Mr. Wilson's first administration ? 2. How did the trouble with 
Mexico begin ? 3. Mr. Wilson's policy of "watchful waiting" in 
the Mexican troubles between 1913 and 1916 was severely criti- 



6o8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

clzed by many persons. What were their reasons for desiring 
intervention and what were his reasons for not intervening ? 
4. What control does the United States exert over the Domini- 
can RepubHc and Haiti? 5. How did the Virgin Islands come 
to be American possessions? 

Review: Make a table of the Presidents from 1865 to 1917, and 
under each President give a list of the important events that 
happened during his administration. 



Problems for Further Study 

1. Topics for individual study and report: 
The duties of the forest rangers. 

See Wheeler's "The Boy with the U. S. Foresters." 
The Panama canal. 

Early work of the French. 

The service of Gorgas in making the Canal Zone safe for 
the workman. 

The digging of the canal. 

The construction of the locks. 

The "slides" and methods of dealing with the problem. 

The influence of the canal on commerce. 
See Hall and Chester's "Panama and the Canal." 

2. Find in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, the clause 
with which the Supreme Court held the income tax law of 1894 to 
be inconsistent. 

3. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why the Mexican 
people have so far been much less successful in establishing a 
democratic government than have the people of the United States. 
What in your opinion are some of the important things that must 
be done by any people if a truly democratic form of government is 
to be successfully established ? 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE GREAT WAR 

Europe on Fire. — During the opening days of August, 
1914, the people of the United States were startled by the 
dreadful news that the great powers of Europe were at war. 
It seemed impossible ; but it was true. Austria had accused 
Serbia of taking part in a plot which resulted in the assas- 
sination of Archduke Ferdinand (the heir to the Austrian 
throne) and his wife, and had made humiliating demands 
upon the Serbian government. Russia, unwilling to see 
Serbia destroyed, made serious objections. Germany, 
armed to the teeth, assured Austria that her support would 
be forthcoming at all costs. France knew that to abandon 
Russia in that hour would leave herself isolated and help- 
less before Germany at some later time. 

On the first of August the conflict began, with England 
still hanging in the balance. Soon the Kaiser's hosts 
were sweeping into neutral Belgium, whose safety had been 
guaranteed by all the powers, and driving at the heart of 
France. The German military staff had planned to seize 
the French capital, thus paralyzing the Republic by one 
swift and stunning blow; and then, with the aid of Austria, 
to destroy Russia at leisure, making the German Empire the 
master of Europe. Great Britain, knowing that a victorious 
Germany, standing over the prostrate forms of France and 
Belgium, would soon challenge her very existence as well 
as her world empire, sprang to their aid. 
2R 609 



6iO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

I. American Neutrality 

The President's Proclamation. — Overcome by the horror 
of it all, the people of the United States were for a time 
like dazed spectators, unable to appreciate the red terror 
that was devastating Europe, hoping without encourage- 
ment that the storm would soon pass. President Wilson on 
August 1 8, 1914, issued a proclamation advising all citizens 
to " act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality which is 
the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friendliness to 
all concerned." 

This was advice difficult to follow. Many Americans of 
German birth or parentage instinctively sympathized with the 
Fatherland, and many Irish, remembering their struggle for 
home rule, joined them in wishing defeat to Great Britain. 
Americans of the old native stock, deeply moved by Ger- 
many's cruelty to Belgium and remembering their ties to Eng- 
land and their gratitude to France for aid in the American 
Revolution, took the other side. They grew more and more 
pronounced in their support of the Allies against Germany 
and Austria as the Germans began to bomb English open 
towns and destroy merchant ships and their crews at sea. 
Between the groups was a large third party of citizens 
who sought at all costs to keep the United States from 
becoming embroiled in the struggle. 

Arguments for American Inaction. — When it was urged 
that the United States could not be indifferent to the out- 
come of the war, advocates of non-intervention replied that 
the war was simply another case of the " pot calling the 
kettle black," that England and France had seized colonies 
in all parts of the world and oppressed other nationalities 
in India, Africa, and China, and that they were now object- 
ing to Germany's attempt to follow their own example. 
It was repeatedly said also that the Russian autocracy was 



THE GREAT WAR 6il 

at least equally responsible with Germany for the war. As 
between the Romanoffs in Russia and the Hohenzollerns in 
Germany, there appeared to them to be little to choose. 
All in all, those who took such views in one form or another 
declared that under no circumstances should the United 
States join in " a selfish scramble for spoils and power." 

Difficulties in the Way of a Strict Neutrality : Trade 
Relations with the Allies. — To the pacifists, it seemed 
a simple matter for this country to close its doors and 
windows and let the storm rage, but in truth it was not 
at all a simple matter. The United States had long carried 
on a large and varied trade with all the countries of 
Europe — those at war and those at peace — belligerents 
and neutrals. Ships plying between our ports and those 
of Europe, trans-Atlantic cables, mails, and wireless 
telegraphy bound us to the Old World nations with a 
thousand ties. With war raging these could not remain 
undisturbed. 

It had long been recognized by all nations that a 
beUigerent has the right to blockade the ports of his enemy 
if he can. This right the* government of the United States 
had exercised with telling effect against the Southern states 
during the Civil War. It had also been long recognized 
that a belligerent has the right to intercept all war supplies 
(contraband goods) destined for his enemy, no matter by 
whom carried and to what port immediately shipped, even 
that of a friendly power. 

Great Britain immediately took full advantage of these 
rights. She swept German ships from the ocean, block- 
aded the German ports, searched ships bound to neutral 
countries for war supplies destined to Germany, and thus 
throttled German foreign commerce. British triumph at 
sea gave enormous advantages to the Allies. Trade could 
flow without interruption to their ports, because Germany, 



6i2 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

having no battleships on the seas, could not blockade their 
ports or disturb their merchant vessels. 

The Trade in Food-supplies and Munitions. — During 
the opening months of the war the citizens of the 
United States built up a huge trade with England and 
France in foodstuffs and war supphes. Seeing the 
fruits of the triumph at sea gathered by the Allies, the 
Germans both in this country and in Germany began 
to protest vigorously. To Americans of pacific leanings 
it seemed dreadful for our manufacturers to be engaged 
in selling biUions of dollars' worth of death-dealing in- 
struments to England and France. The German govern- 
ment did not officially protest, however, because German 
munition-makers had been the chief purveyors of war 
materials during previous wars. They could not with a 
straight face object to American manufacturers following 
in their footsteps. That was not all. This country could 
not deny the right of a neutral government to sell arms to 
belligerents without laying up trouble for itself in the future. 
If a nation cannot expect to buy military supplies from 
other countries in time of war, then it must make huge prep- 
arations for the future by turning its industries into gigantic 
munitions plants, in order to be ready for the greatest emer- 
gency that may arise. Such was the reply made to Austria 
when that country addressed the United States on the 
subject. 

An Embargo on Exports hnpossihle. — There was only one 
way that the United States could fully satisfy the friends 
of Germany. That was by following the example set by 
Jefferson more than a hundred years before and destroying 
all foreign trade by an embargo. But that would have 
put the government of the United States in a dilemma 
equally trying: it would have been a direct blow at 
England and France. They would have considered it as an 



THE GREAT WAR 613 

"unfriendly" act to cut off their trade after they had bottled 
up the German navy and made way for that trade. More- 
over an embargo would have been a confession that Ameri- 
can shippers, traders, and manufacturers had no rights of 
trade abroad that any country was bound to respect. If 
the United States had renounced its rights of trade with the 
AUies, it would have been an unwarranted favor to Ger- 
many and an equally unwarranted wrong to England and 
France. No matter which way the government of the 
United States turned, trouble lay in the path. 

American Protests to England. — As to American trade 
with the Allies on the open seas, the German government 
had no grounds for objection; but it was justified, un- 
doubtedly, in protesting against the manner in which Great 
Britain exercised her rights of blockade and search. British 
officers rummaged Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and other 
neutral ships for war supplies, letters, papers, and other 
valuables destined for Germany and seized many things 
that were lawfully sent. Against this action on the part 
of the British government, the United States protested, 
and demanded a discontinuance of the illegal practices. 
Even if Great Britain had kept always within the narrowest 
Hmits of the law, her control of the sea would have prac- 
tically destroyed the ocean-borne trade of the German Em- 
pire. 

II. The Submarine Outrages; the Campaign of 1916 

Germany Adopts a Ruthless Submarine Policy. The 
" Lusitania " Sunk {May 7, iQis). — Germany, finding her- 
self thus throttled, attempted to break Great Britain's 
hold. In the winter of 191 5 the German government 
announced that its submarines would sink British merchant 
vessels wherever found on the high seas. Under inter- 
national law it had long been agreed that warships should 



6l4 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

not destroy merchantmen belonging to an enemy (unless, 
of course, they resisted) without providing for the safety 
of the passengers and crew. American citizens thus had the 
right to expect to travel with safety not only on American 
merchant vessels but also on those of the warring countries 
of Europe. So things stood when, on May 7, 191 5, 
a German submarine startled the world by destroying, 
without warning to the captain, a great British passenger 
vessel, the Lusitania, and killing hundreds of innocent 
passengers and members of the crew, including a number of 
American citizens — men, women, and children. In a few 
weeks German submarines had gathered in a deadly harvest 
of merchant ships, some of them owned by Americans 
and manned by American crews. 

Germany Agrees to Modify Submarine Warfare. -^ The 
destruction of the Lusitania and innocent non-combatants, 
including American citizens, horrified the people of the 
United States, even some who had sympathized with Ger- 
many in her struggles. President Wilson in a few days 
dispatched to the German government a note asking it to 
disavow such acts, make reparation for the injuries done, 
and take steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future. 
The President added the solemn warning that the United 
States would not " omit any word or act necessary to the 
performance of its sacred duties of maintaining the rights 
of the United States and of safeguarding their free exercise 
and enjoyment." Germany's reply was evasive. Presi- 
dent Wilson wrote a second note, and it was September i 
before Germany promised not to sink merchant vessels 
without warning and agreed to provide for the safety of the 
passengers whenever such ships were sunk. 

Criticism of President Wilson s Course. — During the 
exchange of notes with the German government, very 
strong emotions were aroused in this country. The view 



THE GREAT WAR 615 

was widely held that the sinking of the Lusitania was 
not merely gross violation of the rights of American 
citizens, but an inhuman act which called for breaking 
off all relations with the German government, if not the 
immediate declaration of war. On the other hand, some 
people were angry because President Wilson was so in- 
sistent in his protests against the destruction of Ameri- 
can lives by submarines, and yet unwilling to threaten 
Great Britain with armed force for searching American 
mails bound to and from Europe. In spite of the criticism 
from both sides the President steered an even course, deter- 
mined apparently to keep the country out of war — at least 
until it was clear that peaceful negotiations with Germany 
were useless. 

The Political Campaign of 1916. — In the midst of this 
turmoil came the election campaign of 1916. Naturally 
all eyes were turned toward the Progressives. Mr. Wilson's 
chances for reelection seemed to depend to a considerable 
extent upon the possibiHty of continued division among 
his opponents. Signs of reunion appeared when it was 
stated that the Republican and Progressive conventions 
would be held in Chicago at the same time. There were 
some who hoped that the Republicans would nominate Mr. 
Roosevelt, but Charles E. Hughes, associate justice of the 
United States Supreme Court and a former governor of 
New York, was chosen on the third ballot. The Progres- 
sives then nominated Mr. Roosevelt. As he declined, 
the national committee of the party thereupon indorsed 
Mr. Hughes with the hope of reuniting the two factions. 
The Democratic convention at St. Louis renominated Mr. 
Wilson by acclamation. 

Issues of the Campaign. — In the campaign which fol- 
lowed. President Wilson's policies with regard to Mexico 
and Germany were, of course, widely discussed, both parties 



6l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

taking a rather uncertain position as to both countries. 
There were, in addition, several other issues which received 
attention : Congress had (i) passed a law against child labor 
in mines, quarries, and factories ; (2) it had fixed the work day 
for trainmen on railroads at eight hours ; (3) it had provided 
for a banking system to loan money to farmers at a low rate 
of interest ; (4) it had enacted a law designed to encourage 
the upbuilding of the American merchant marine ; and (5) it 
had declared the intention of the United States to free the 
Philippine Islands as soon as the people there were ready for 
self-government. The eight-hour law for trainmen had been 
enacted in the summer of 1916, when the railway unions 
were threatening the country with a general strike. Presi- 
dent Wilson, refusing to recommend the arbitration of the 
matter, declared in favor of the principle of an eight-hour 
day and urged Congress to pass the law in spite of the pro- 
tests of the railway companies. Mr. Hughes, without attack- 
ing the eight-hour day, denounced the method employed to 
secure it. The issue of woman suffrage was also brought 
into the campaign. 

President Wilson Reelected. — The election of November, 
1916, proved to be a general surprise. Mr. Hughes carried 
all the great industrial and commercial states of the North 
and East except Ohio, and on the early returns from 
these states his election was conceded. Then the tide turned. 
It was found that Mr. Wilson, in addition to carrying the 
" solid South," which in presidential elections has been 
Democratic, had gained immensely in the West. In that 
part of the country the Progressives had not gone back to 
the Republican fold. Even California, which elected the 
Republican candidate to the United States Senate, Gov- 
ernor Hiram Johnson, by a large majority, cast a small but 
safe margin of votes in favor of Mr. Wilson. The Presi- 
dent's popular vote showed a gain of about 2,000,000 over 



THE GREAT WAR 617 

that of 191 2, and was quite naturally regarded as a great 
personal tribute to him, especially in view of the fact that 
the Democrats almost lost their majority in the House of 
Representatives. The Socialist vote fell considerably below 
that of the preceding presidential election, largely on 
account of the fact that many Socialists approved Mr. 
Wilson's policy in dealing with labor and in keeping the 
country out of war. 

III. War with Germany 

Germany Renews Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. 
Bernstorff Dismissed. — More than a month before Mr. 
Wilson's second inauguration arrived, namely on January 
31, 1917, Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador, 
informed the President that his government, in spite of pre- 
vious pledges, would renew the submarine war on merchant 
ships with greater vigor than ever. Without any further 
parleying, the President sent Ambassador von Bernstorff 
home, broke off all communications with the German imperial 
government, and waited to see whether hostile acts would 
be committed by Germany against American citizens and 
shipping. He was loath to believe that Germany would 
sink merchant ships of all countries on sight without attempt- 
ing to save the lives of crews or passengers. In explaining 
why he had severed relations with the Kaiser, he said : 

We are the sincere friends of the German people and earnestly 
desire to remain at peace with the government which speaks for 
them. . . . God grant that we may not be challenged by acts of 
willful injustice on the part of the government of Germany. 

The hope was vain, for the German government resumed 
its policy of sinking American ships and destroying Ameri- 
can lives without warning and without pity. The challenge 
had gone forth. 



6i8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 




Peesideni Wilson ii>rAKiNG before Congress, April ., 19:7 



THE GREAT WAR 619 

German Intrigue in the United States. — This was but 
the cHmax of a long chain of difficulties which the United 
States had encountered in dealing with Germany and 
Austria. Through their official representatives they had 
hired agitators to foment labor troubles in American indus- 
tries and engaged desperate men to blow up munition fac- 
tories, killing hundreds of American men, women, and 
children. They had employed agents to set bombs in the 
holds of ships bound to England and France ; they had paid 
newspapers and writers to advocate the German cause and 
defame the Allies ; they had used every means which they 
could devise to disturb our peace within and our relations 
with England and France. 

These were not the deeds of a few "cranks" but the 
deliberate acts of calculating men. The charges against 
them are not hearsay stories. The records of criminal 
courts, East and West, and the records of prisons bear 
convincing testimony to Austrian and German violations 
of American security at home as well as abroad. So active 
did these foreign agents become before the break with Ger- 
many that the President was compelled to send the Aus- 
trian ambassador home and to order the removal of sub- 
ordinates attached to the German embassy at Washington. 

Not content with attempts to set Americans at war with 
one another, the German government plotted troubles in 
Mexico. On January 19, 1917, two weeks before President 
Wilson was informed that Germany would not keep her 
submarine pledges, the German Foreign Secretary, Herr 
Zimmermann, had written to the German minister in Mexico, 
telling him of the coming submarine warfare and instructing 
him to offer a "restoration" of Texas, Arizona, and New 
Mexico, if the Mexican government would join with Japan 
in an attack on the United States. This last act was so far 
beyond the bounds of reason that it dispelled the doubts of 



620 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



those American citizens who had not been able to beheve that 
the German government was guilty of the plots and deeds 
ascribed to it. With a government so bent upon following 
its own paths, without regard to the rights and feeHngs of 
other nations, compromise or further negotiation was im- 
possible. Only one course lay before the President, and 
resolutely he set out in it. 

War Declared (April 6, 1917). — On April 2, 1917, Presi- 
dent Wilson invited Congress to assemble in joint session. 

He explained to it the duty of the 
United States in the pending crisis. 
He recited the deeds of Germany 
which had horrified mankind and 
made impossible peaceful relations 
with the Kaiser : 




Vessels of every kind, whatever 
their flag, their character, their cargo, 
their destination, their errand, have 
been ruthlessly sent to the bottom 
without warning and without thought 
of help or mercy for those on board, 
the vessels of friendly neutrals along 
WooDRow Wilson wath those of belligerents. Even hos- 

pital ships and ships carrying relief to 
the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium . . . have 
been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or principles. 

He then told how the German government had filled our 
unsuspecting cities with spies and carried on criminal 
intrigues against American peace and industry ; how Ger- 
many had plotted in Mexico to stir up enemies at the very 
doors of the United States. With a power so indifferent 
to American rights and so unscrupulous in its conduct, 
defying the laws of humanity and the pleas of common 
sense, friendly relations could no longer be maintained. 
Indeed the United States had been already assailed by 



THE GREAT WAR 621 



§i3rt|-fifl^ Congress of t\t Sniltb States irf ^nwrita; 

^i the prst J^ession, 

B«fun aod beld at the Oty of Washington on Monday, the secoad day ol April, 
one thousand nine hundred and seventeca. 



JOINT RESOLUTION 

Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Gennan Government 
Sind the Government and the people of the United SUtes and making 
provision to prosecute the same. 



Whereas the Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of 
war against the Government and the people of the United States of 
America : Therefore be it 

Resolved by the Senate and House oj Representatives of the United States 
of America vi Congress assembled. That the state of war between the United 
States and the Imperial German Government which has thus been thrust upon 
the United States is hereby formally declared ; and that the President be, and 
be is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military 
forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war 
against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a 
successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by 
the Congress of the United States. ^-^ ^^p 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of rte United Stales and 
/^ ^' / A, V /x» - *? President of the SemOe. 




The Resolution that Brought Us into the Great War 

German power, its ships had been sunk and its citizens 
killed. President Wilson, therefore, merely asked Congress 
to recognize the fact that the recent course of the im- 
perial German government was indeed " nothing less than 



622 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

war against the government and people of the United 
States." After a few days' debate Congress solemnly de- 
clared, on April 6, that a state of war existed between 
Germany and the United States.^ 

The War against the Government, Not the People, of 
Germany. — In advising Congress to take this course. 
President Wilson was careful to point out that our quarrel 
was with the autocratic government of Germany, not with 
the people of that country. 

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feel- 
ing towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was 
not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering 
this war. ... It was a war determined upon as wars used to be 
determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were 
nowhere consulted by their rulers, and wars were provoked and 
waged in the interests of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious 
men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and 
tools. ... In such a government, following such methods, we can 
never have a friend. 



IV. The German Autocracy 

The German Government an Autocracy. — In order that 
we may understand the meaning of President Wilson's 
distinction between the people towards whom we are friendly 
and the autocracy on which we make war, it is necessary for 
us to examine for a moment the nature of the government 
of Germany. The German empire is a federation of twenty- 
two kingdoms, duchies, and principalities, and three " free 
cities." The king of Prussia is the German emperor by 
virtue of his right as king. There is an imperial parliament 
consisting of the imperial council composed of agents of the 
-several kings, princes, and dukes and the three free cities, 
and also a lower house or Reichstag composed of represen- 

1 War was not declared or) Austria until December, 1917, 



THE GREAT WAR 623 

tatives elected by universal manhood suffrage. There is a 
high minister, the chancellor, who is chosen by the emperor 
and is responsible to him alone, not to the representatives 
of the voters as in England and France. Laws cannot be 
made without the consent of the Reichstag, but that is about 
as far as its power extends. War is made by the emperor, 
who possesses absolute command of the army and navy. 
It is true that an " offensive '' war requires the approval 
of the imperial council, but that is a mere formaUty. The 
popular branch of the government has no control over the 
declaration of war under any circumstances. It has been 
correctly called a " talking machine." The emperor ap- 
points officers and ministers without consulting it, and 
usually finds it pliant when he calls upon it for grants of 
money. 

• Prussia Practically an Absolute Monarchy. — It must be 
remembered also that the German emperor possesses 
great powers as king of Prussia, which contains more 
than one half the population and territory of the empire 
and sends seventeen of the fifty-eight members of the im- 
perial council. It has a " constitution " which was " gra- 
ciously " granted by the king to the people in 1850. Under 
this constitution the government of Prussia is in the hands 
of the king and a few great landlords (" Junkers ") and rich 
men. There is, it is true, a "popular branch" composed 
of delegates elected by the voters, but the election system 
is so arranged that two thirds of the " popular " representa- 
tives are chosen by a small group of wealthy men, while the 
great mass of the voters can select only one third of the 
delegates. In Prussia the king rules by divine right. There 
he is " King, by the Grace of God." The people are his 
" subjects " in name and in fact. The inhabitants of Prussia 
had protested against this system for many years before 
the war, but without effect. The Kaiser and the Prussian 



624 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ruling class were determined to keep their power and to 
beat down the democratic aspirations of their subjects. 

The Iron Rule of the Hohenzollerns in Prussia. — The 
history of Prussia and this system of government is mainly 
the history of one ruling family, the House of Hohenzollern, 
which began more than three hundred years ago to build 
the little district of Brandenburg into a great kingdom. By 
devoting enormous sums to the army and treating the 
people as mere taxpayers and "food for cannon," the Hohen- 
zollerns succeeded in establishing a strong military power. 
They seized the territory of their neighbors without qualms 
and without apologies. They made war first upon one coun- 
try and then upon another, always in the hope of gaining 
more territory. 

By this method they and their barons were able to form 
the German empire and bring the whole country under" 
their dominion. While other nations were throwing aside 
kings or reducing their power to a shadow, the Hohen- 
zollerns waxed stronger and stronger, commanding the 
army with an iron hand, teaching in the schools obedience 
to kings, and putting down popular uprisings with sternness 
and cruelty. In theory and in fact Germany is ruled by the 
German emperor, king of Prussia, and a handful of generals 
and barons. The voice of the people is nothing but a voice 
crying in the night. 

The Hohenzollerns* Dream of World Dominion. — As long 
as the Hohenzollerns confined their seizures of property 
to their German neighbors they made little trouble for 
the rest of the world. In 1871, however, after fomenting 
a war with France, they tore Alsace-Lorraine away from that 
country, as Bismarck frankly said, for the purpose of weak- 
ening the republic and sowing seeds of bitterness and warlike 
feeling there, thus giving an excuse for maintaining German 
military power. After the establishment of the German 



THE GREAT WAR 625 

empire in 1871 and the remarkable growth of German com- 
merce and industry, the imperial government began to look 
upon the army and the navy as means for getting possession 
of more territories beyond the seas and destroying the 
British empire. Victorious over Denmark in 1864 and over 
Austria in 1866, triumphant over France in 1871, the Hohen- 
zollern dynasty was looking for new worlds to conquer. 
German editors, professors, and publicists began to write 
about " world power," to be won by force of arms. With 
soldiers drilled, disciplined, and equipped with instruments 
of destruction as no soldiers had ever been before, the 
Hohenzollerns looked forward with confidence to the over- 
throw of Great Britain and the extension of their power 
throughout the world. With colonies in Africa, posts in 
China, coaling stations in the Pacific, banks and industries 
everywhere in Latin-America, there seemed no limit to 
German ambitions if Great Britain could be beaten down, 
sooner or later. 

The Need of Crushing German Militarism Recognized. — 
It was against a government conceived in military despotism 
and dedicated to the proposition that kings can do no wrong 
that President Wilson asked his country to take up arms. 
To say that the outcome of the war in Europe was of no 
concern to the United States was to ignore forty years of 
German history. Thousands of peaceful citizens, though 
looking with horror upon the thought of war, were slowly 
and reluctantly driven by events to the conclusion that a 
German victory in Europe meant danger for the United 
States in the coming years. They realized that, with 
Great Britain beaten and her colonies annexed by Germany, 
America would not be spared by a power founded on the 
sword. 

They remembered the hundred years of peace which we 
had maintained with the British empire; they recalled 



626 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

the three thousand miles of border between this country 
and Canada, without a fort or battleship or patrol ; and 
they could not bring themselves to believe that with the 
Hohenzollerns entrenched anywhere in this hemisphere the 
United States could go on her way undisturbed by German 
intrigues, spies, and military ambitions. To them the tri- 
umph of the German war machine, dominating all Europe, 
would make vain and foolish two centuries of struggle for 
popular government, for popular control over the power of 
kings and aristocracies, for the extension of the suffrage and 
the advancement of democracy on the earth. They took 
the ground that it was an economy of time, blood, and treas- 
ure to crush Prussian militarism, while so many other 
nations were ready to help. Thus the fear of German 
ideals and German militarism brought Europe to our doors 
and the battle fields of France near to Lexington and York- 
town. Some Americans could not see it in this light, and 
clung with desperation to peace at all costs ; but the mass 
of the American people believed that the President had seen 
a true vision and made a call which could not be denied. - 



V. A Democracy at War 

No doubt the task before the United States was stag- 
gering in its size. With their best energies for three 
hundred years devoted to preparation for war, the Hohen- 
zollerns were well equipped for frightfulness. Though 
blocked in the West by the armies of Great Britain and 
France and in the East by the armies of Russia, they 
were able to keep at bay such military forces as the 
world had never seen before. The work to be done was 
serious and the government of the United States took it 
seriously. 

The Draft. — The Great War was a war of organized 



THE GREAT WAR 



627 



nations, not of armies, and the first question confronting the 
American government was whether it would follow in the 
footsteps of England and France and summon all the nation 
to arms and war work, or rely upon volunteers. Conscrip- 



f^ 







I 



'lit'' 






American Soldiers in France 

On February 22, 1918, the American soldiers in Paris joined with the French in 
celebrating Washington's birthday. 

tion of men seemed contrary to American traditions and 
ideals. During the Civil War reliance had first been placed 
upon volunteers, and only when that system had failed to 
supply the necessary soldiers did the government make use 
of the draft. Many Americans, therefore, urged that con- 
scription should be the last resort, used only in case the call 
for volunteers failed to raise the required armies. Others, 



628 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



IK:)YSaiKll GIRLS! 

YoucanhelpyourUncleSam 
Win theWar 



however, believed that the burdens of war should be dis- 
tributed as equitably as possible, and that to defend democ- 
racy was a duty as well as a privilege. Their counsels pre- 
vailed. In May Congress passed the "selective draft'' 
law compelling the registration of all men between the ages 
of twenty-one and thirty inclusive, and providing for the 
selection of soldiers by lot from the millions thus enrolled. 
War Taxes. — Along with the conscription of men came 
a demand for the conscription of wealth. Heretofore wars 

had been paid for mainly 
out of borrowed money 
and the cost shifted to the 
future generations. That 
is, soldiers gave their lives 
to their country on the 
field of battle, and the 
rich lent their money to 
the government at a good 
rate of interest. As soon 
as war with Germany 
broke out, there came a 
plea from all sections of 
the country that Congress 
avoid the old practice and 
provide for paying at least 
a large share of the war 
bills out of current taxes, 
especially taxes imposed 




S^e your Qjjarters 

Sa¥fiini|s SttauEpa 



Courtesy of New YorkWar Savings Committee qjj the PtofitS of mduSttieS 

A Poster to Encourage the Sale of ^^^ ^^^ incomes of the 
War Savings Stamps . , 

well-to-do and the rich. 

Under the old plan a man who saved a thousand dollars 

could lend it to the government and receive his annual 

interest and the return of the principal in due time. 



THE GREAT WAR 629 

Under the proposed system, the government would take 
from him a large share of his thousand dollars and give 
him neither interest nor principal in return. 

In response to the popular demand, Congress imposed 
heavy taxes upon personal incomes and upon the profits 
of industries, thus meeting a part of the bill from current 
taxes. The rest of the money necessary for the prosecu- 
tion of the war was raised by " Liberty Loans " ; that is, 
the sale of interest-bearing bonds to the people. In spite 
of the enormous taxes laid upon all citizens, Liberty Bonds 
and War Savings Stamps were sold by the billions, rich and 
poor joining in lending their savings to the government to 
help win the Great War. 

National Control of Food, Fuel, and Other Commodities. — 
Closely related to this conscription of men and money was 
the government control of prices. In previous wars the 
dealers in foodstuffs and manufactured goods had been per- 
mitted to take advantage of the people's necessities and 
make exorbitant charges. Congress, by a law enacted in 
August, 1917, authorized the President to control the entire 
food supply of the nation with a view to preventing unfair 
profits and outrageous prices. Furthermore the government, 
instead of permitting manufacturers to charge what they 
liked for steel and war supplies, began to fix the prices 
which it would pay. In December, 191 7, it assumed the 
management of the railways. The government assumed 
control of all shipping and embarked on a program of ship- 
building on a large scale. In other words, it undertook 
a control of agriculture, industry, and transportation, in 
the hope of securing greater efficiency and making impos- 
sible the kind of ^'profiteering'' which had been such a 
disgrace in other wars. How the legislation was to work 
out in practice no one could tell. 



630 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

Epilogue 

The Great War inevitably raised many new and press- 
ing questions for the consideration of the American people. 
First among these was whether America was really a 
united nation of people whose allegiance could be counted 
upon in case of a conflict with a foreign power. It was 
forcibly driven home that the easy-going policy of free im- 
migration had brought into the country millions of aliens 
who cared nothing about the nation and took no interest 
in its government. It was reahzed also that citizens of 
alien origin could not be expected to surrender altogether 
their affection for their native lands, and stand as wholly 
impartial judges in times of international controversies and 
wars. Congress, appreciating as never before the need of 
restricting immigration to those who can be counted upon 
as American citizens, passed in 1917, over the President's 
veto, a law imposing a literacy test on aliens coming into 
this country in the future. 

It was a severe test that was imposed upon the Americans 
of German origin during this period. Their fathers, sons, 
and brothers were falling on the field of battle, and American 
manufacturers were, from the first, helping to furnish the 
instruments of death. Although disapproving in many cases 
the invasion of Belgium or the destruction of the Lusitania^ 
they could not look with composure upon the possible de- 
feat and ruin of Germany. With the entrance of the United 
States into the conflict, there was uncertainty as to the 
stand which these citizens would take ; but President Wilson 
was right when he said "they are, most of them, as true 
and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other 
fealty or allegiance." 

Although some leading foreign-language newspapers 
scarcely concealed their hopes for a German victory, the 



THE GREAT WAR 631 

mass of their readers accepted the grave responsibihties 
which the war imposed upon them. When the agents of 
the German imperial government were removed from the 
country, the most serious disturbances from German sources 
disappeared. Thousands of Germans, particularly the de- 
scendants of those who more than sixty years ago had fled 
before the tyranny of Prussia, openly rejoiced in the prospect 
of overthrowing the Hohenzollern military power, although 
they naturally grieved at the thought of ruin to the German 
nation. Those who feared serious internal disturbances 
from Americans of German birth were happily disappointed. 
Only the Socialist party officially went on record as oppos- 
ing the government in the war, and it was rent in twain, 
many of its prominent leaders withdrawing and denouncing 
its conduct as unintelligent and treasonable. 

Last, but not least, among the effects of the Great War 
was the direction of the attention of the masses of the people, 
as never before, to ways and means of preventing such dis- 
asters in the future. On inquiry, they found that trade 
and commerce were among the fruitful sources of wars in 
all times and all ages. Nations with various climates and 
natural resources inevitably turn to the exchange of goods, 
and the enterprising manufacturers of each country seek 
markets far and wide. Undoubtedly one of the objects 
of Germany in waging war was to gain more trade by the 
force of arms. Germany deliberately planned to cut her 
way to the Atlantic Ocean on the west and to dominate 
Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Turkey in the south- 
east. Thus she hoped to win ports on the high seas and 
a vast Middle European empire. By brute force Germany 
sought to gai'n such a strong position that she could look for- 
ward to a continued mastery of Europe and the ocean trade. 

Another momentous effect of the war was the great in- 
crease in American trade and capital. American capitalists 



632 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

who had formerly been debtors to the banks and capitaHsts 
of Europe suddenly became money lenders. They lent 
billions of dollars in cash and credits to the Allied countries 
and sold them enormous quantities of war materials at high 
profits. While the Germans and the British were busy 
with the war, the citizens of the United States pushed 
their trade in South America and bought up factories, mines, 
railroads, and other property hitherto owned by European 
capitalists. Much of the power of London as a money 
market and commercial center was transferred to New York 
City, and the opportunity to seize the scepter of world trade 
was grasped with eagerness by American capitalists, manu- 
facturers, and merchants. 

The question then resolved itself to this : " Shall each 
country pursue its own way, gaining trade and commerce 
at all costs — using the sword to compel other people to 
buy its goods ; or shall there be some agreement among 
the nations as to the rules under which trade can be con- 
ducted and backward countries managed, so preventing 
recourse to arms ^ " The cost of the war, sweeping away 
the commercial gains of generations, made the people think 
of this problem more seriously than ever. When it was 
possible to seize a colony or conquer a province by sending 
out a small expedition, no one thought much about it ; but 
it is another matter to let loose a world war by drawing 
the sword to win territory and markets. Such methods 
of securing trade no longer " paid " in any sense of the word, 
and the Great War helped to teach the peoples of the earth 
that vital truth. President Wilson early grasped it and 
pressed it upon the attention of his countrymen. 

It was, therefore, not with lust of conquest that America 
took up arms. The triumph of the German autocracy, re- 
lentless in its will to crush and dominate, and ruthless in 
its prosecution of war, would compel all the world to lay 



THE GREAT WAR 633 

aside every hope of enduring peace and prepare for a new 
conflict of self-defense. It was to protect the United 
States against German military power, and to help make 
the world safe for all countries, great and small, wishing 
to pursue paths of peace and industry, that the people of 
the United States bent their will and purpose to the stern 
duty before them. 



Questions and Exercises 

I. I, What events were the immediate causes of the Great 
War .? What eight nations were first involved in the fighting .? 

2. What is meant by neutrality in war ? Why was it difficult for 
the American people to be strictly neutral.? 3. Name some of 
the important "munitions" of war. Why was an embargo on the 
export of munitions from the United States impossible .? 

II. I. What led to the sinking of merchant vessels by Ger- 
many .? How did this submarine warfare differ from the inter- 
ference with an enemy's commerce in earlier wars .? 2. Why did 
the sinking of the Lusitania especially anger the Americans .? 
What steps did President Wilson take as a result of this event .? 

3. Who were the important candidates for the presidency in 1916 .? 
Name the principal issues of the campaign. What were some of 
the unexpected results of the election .? 

HI. I. Why did President Wilson dismiss von BernstorfF? 
2. What is meant by *' intrigue '* ? State some of the ways in 
which Germany plotted against the Americans even before war 
was declared between the two countries. When was war finally 
declared .? 

IV. I. What is meant by an autocracy.? How does autocracy 
in government diff'er from democracy ? 2. Name some of the 
advantages of living in a democratic country as compared with 
living under an autocratic ruler, 3. Why is it necessary for the 
free peoples of the world to crush the "militarism" of the German 
empire ? 

V. I. What is meant by a military "draft".? When before 
in our history have armies been raised in this way .? (See Chapter 
XXI.) 2. What is the justification for using this method of rais- 



634 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

ing an army in a democracy? 3. What steps did Congress take 
to provide money for carrying on the war ? 



Problems for Further Study 

1. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 had a very important 
bearing upon the Great War. A brief account of this earher war 
will be found in Guerber's "Story of Modern France," pp. 294-309. 

2. Name some of the important differences between the Great 
War and the other wars that this country has fought. 

3. Read the War Address of President Wilson, and other re- 
lated addresses. See " From Washington to Wilson," Macmillan 
Pocket Classics. 

Outline for Review of the Recent Events and the Great 
War (Chapters XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII) 

I. The New Democracy. 

A. Causes of the increasing interest in the machinery of 

government. 

1. Popular education. 

2. Wrongdoing on the part of public officers. 

3. Criticism of faithless officials. 

4. Problems of the cities. 

5. The education and employment of women. 

B. Political reforms. 

1. Civil-service reform. 

2. Ballot reform. 

3. The initiative, referendum, and recall. 

4. The "commission" form of city government. 

5. The "city-manager" plan. 

6. Reforms in the organization of political parties. 

7. The direct primary. 

8. Woman suffrage. 

II. The early years of the twentieth century. 

A. Roosevelt a new type of president. 

B. The conservation movement. 

1. Its leaders. 

2. The Reclamation Act. 

3. The Forest Reserves. 



OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 635 

C. The Panama Canal. 

1. Early history. 

2. Treaty with Great Britain. 

3. Dispute over routes. 

4. The Panama ''revolution" and the cession of the 

Canal Zone. 

5. The building and opening of the canal. 

D. Foreign affairs. 

1. The Treaty of Portsmouth. 

2. The journey of the fleet around the world. 

E. The election of 1908. 

F. Taft's administration. 

1. Tariff revision and the income tax. 

2. Postal savings banks. 

3. The parcel post. 

4. Dissolution of the ''trusts." 

G. The campaign of 191 2. 

1. Dissatisfaction with Republican rule. 

2. The organization of the Progressive party. 

3. The nomination of Woodrow Wilson by the Demo- 

crats. 
H. Wilson's first administration. 

1. New laws: tariff, income tax, anti-trust, Federal 

Reserve banks. 

2. Troubles with Mexico. 

a. Civil war in Mexico. 

b. The Vera Cruz expedition. 

c. The difficulties with Villa. 

3. American protectorates in Haiti and San Domingo. 

4. The purchase of the Virgin Islands. 
III. The Great War. 

A. Europe on fire. 

B. American neutrality. 

1. The President's proclamation. 

2. Reasons for American neutrality. 

3. Difficulties in the way of strict neutrality. 

C. The submarine outrages. 

1. The Lusitania torpedoed and sunk. 

2. America's protest and Germany's agreement to modify 

her practices. 



636 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

D. The campaign of 1916: President Wilson reelected. 

E. War with Germany and Austria. 

1. Germany renews unrestricted submarine warfare. 

2. German intrigue in the United States. 

3. War declared. 

F. The German autocracy. 

1. Nature of the German empire. 

2. Prussia practically an absolute monarchy. 

3. The Hohenzollern rule and its • dreams of world 

domination. 

4. The need of crushing German militarism.' 

G. A democracy at war. 

1. The draft. 

2. War taxes. 

3. National control of food, fuel, and transportation. 
H. Epilogue. 

Important names : 

Presidents: Roosevelt (i 901 -1909), Taft (i 909-191 3), Wilson 
(1913- )• 
Important dates: 1914; April 6, 1917. 



Important Historical Events Arranged by Presidentiai 
Administrations 

1. Washington, George (1789-1797) Adams, John 
Topics: Founding the Federal Government, p. 181 ; Amend- 
ments to the Constitution, first ten, p. 181 ; Measures pro- 
posed by Hamilton, pp. 182-185 > ^^^^ of two great political 
parties, pp. 186-187; Trouble with France and England, 
pp. 187, 188; Invention of cotton gin, p. 291; Washing- 
ton's Farewell Address, p. 189. 

2. Adams, John (i 797-1 801) Jefferson, Thomas 
Topics: Troubles with France, p. 190; Alien and Sedition 

Laws, pp. 190, 191. 

3. JefFerson, Thomas (1801-1809) ( Clinton 'Ge"orge 
Topics: Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, p. 192; 

Agricultural development of the country, pp. 197, 198; 
Purchase of Louisiana (1803), pp. 198-203; Lewis and 
Clark Expedition, p. 203 ; Explorations of Pike, pp. 203- 
205 ; The first steamboat (1807), p. 302; Trouble with Eng- 
land and France, pp. 229-233. 

4. Madison, James (1809-1817) { 8t"ry ."klbHdSe 
Topics: War with England, pp. 234-239; Hartford Conven- 
tion, p. 236; Beginning of the struggle of the Spanish- 
American countries for freedom, pp. 240, 241 ; Five states 
admitted to the Union, p. 211. 

5. Monroe, James (1817-1825) Tompkins, Daniel D. 
Topics: Purchase of Florida, p. 206; Monroe Doctrine, pp. 

242-243 ; Missouri Compromise, pp. 254, 368, 369. 

6. Adams, John Quincy (i 825-1 829) Calhoun, John C. 
Topics: The tariff question, p. 253 ; Opening of the Erie 

Canal (1825), p. 299; First railway, p. 304. 

7. Jackson, Andrew (1829-1837) f Calhoun, John C. 

' -^ V ^ j/y [ Van Buren, Martin 

Topics: The "Spoils System," p. 255 ; The tariff, pp. 256, 259; 

The doctrine of nullification, pp. 256-259; Controversy 

637 



638 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 

over the United States Bank, pp. 260, 261 ; Texas asks 
admission, p. 272; Improvement in farm machinery, p. 296. 

8. Van Buren, Martin (1837-1841) Johnson, Richard M. 
Topic : Panic of 1837, p. 261. 

9. Harrison, WilHam Henry, and Tyler, John (1841-1845) 
Topics: The tariff of 1842, p. 263; Webster-Ashburton 

Treaty, p. 263 ; Admission of Texas, p. 274 ; Invention of 
the telegraph, p. 307. 

10. Polk, James K. (i 845-1 849) Dallas, George M. 
Topics : The Mexican War, pp. 263, 264; The Oregon bound- 
ary, pp. 278, 279; First Women's Rights Convention, p. 336. 

11. Taylor, Zachary, and Fillmore, Millard (i 849-1 853) 

Topics : The Compromise of 1850, p. 376; The admission of 
California, pp. 281, 282, 375. 

12. Pierce, Franklin (1853-1857) King, WilHam R. 
Topics : Laying the Atlantic cable, p. 308 ; The organization 

of labor, p. 320; Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), pp. 379, 380. 

13. Buchanan, James (1857-1861) Breckenridge, John C. 
Topics: Dred Scott Decision (1857), pp. 381, 382; John 

Brown's Raid, p. 383 ; Lincoln-Douglas debate, pp. 382, 
383; The first secession, p. 390; The formation of the 
** Confederate States of America," p. 391. 

14. Lincoln, Abraham (1861-1865) Hamlin, Hannibal 
Topics: The second group of states secedes, p. 395 ; The Civil 

War: Preparation for. pp. 395-398; Campaigns, pp. 398- 
423 ; War on the water, p. 408 ; Emancipation, p. 403 ; 
Development of industries, pp. 472-477. 

15. Lincoln, Abraham, and Johnson, Andrew (1865-1869) 
Topics: Close of the war, p. 422; Assassination of Lincoln 

(April 14, 1865), p. 422; Cost of the war, p. 423 ; Recon- 
struction, pp. 430-434; Amendment of the Constitution, p. 
432; Impeachment of Johnson, p. 434; Rise of the New 
South, p. 442 ; Industrial development of the North, p. 477. 
^ ^ TTi o / n^ o N f Colfax, Schuyler 

16. Grant, Ulysses S. (1869-1877) | Wilson, Henry 

Topics: Reconstruction problems, pp. 434, 440; Amendment 
to the Constitution, p. 434; Rise of the New South, pp. 
442-453; Industrial development, pp. 472-492; The prob- 
lem of silver money, p. 528 ; Railroad across the Rocky 
Mountains completed, p. 479; Industrial panic, p. 492; 
Arbitration agreement, p. 539. 



IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS 639 

17. Hayes, Rutherford B. (1877-1881) Wheeler, WilHam A. 
Topics: Problems of immigration, p. 505; Great strikes, 

p. 514; Invention of the electric light and telephone, 
p. 484. 

18. Garfield, James A., and Arthur, Chester A. (1881-1885) 
Topics : The assassination of Garfield (Sept. 19, 1881), p. 523 ; 

The tariff of 1883, pp. 524, 525; Civil-service reform, p. 

535- 

19. Cleveland, Grover (i 885-1 889) Hendricks, Thomas A. 
Topics: The tariff issue, pp. 524, 525; Interstate Commerce 

Law, p. 532. 

20. Harrison, Benjamin (i 889-1 893) Morton, Levi P. 
Topics: The tariff of 1890, p. 525 ; Trust legislation, the Sher- 
man Law, p. 533. 

21. Cleveland, Grover (i 893-1 897) Stevenson, Adlai E. 
Topics: The tariff revision, p. 526; The Venezuela affair, p. 

540; The Hawaiian question, p. 541. 

22. McKinley, William (1897-1901) Hobart, Garret A. 
Topics: Annexation of Hawaii, p. 542; Cuban revolt against 

Spain, p. 544; War with Spain (1898), pp. 545, 551; Ac- 
quisition of Philippines, Porto Rico, Guam, pp. 549, 551; 
The Boxer Rebellion, p. 552; The silver question, p. 529. 

23. McKinley, William, and Roosevelt, Theodore (1901-1905) 
Topics: The assassination of McKinley, p. 588; The Conser- 
vation Movement, pp. 589, 590; Reclamation Act, p. 590. 

24. Roosevelt, Theodore (1905-1909) Fairbanks, Charles W. 
Topics: First legislation, p. 588; Conservation Movement, 

PP- S9i> 592; The Panama Canal project, pp. 593-595; 
Russo-Japanese Peace, p. 596; Journey of the fleet around 
the world, p. 600. 

25. Taft, William Howard (1909-1913) Sherman, James S. 
Topics: Revision of the tariff, p. 598; Income tax proposed, 

p. 398; Postal Savings Banks established, p. 599; Parcel 
post discussed, p. 597; Formation of the Progressive party, 
p. 601 ; Trouble with Mexico, p. 60. 

26. Wilson, Woodrow (1913- ) Marshall, Thomas R. 
Topics: Six new laws, pp. 602, 603; Troubles with Mexico, 

p. 601 ; American interests in the Caribbean, pp. 605, 606; 
Woman Suffrage Movement, p. 582; The Great War, pp. 
609-636. 



640 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



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APPENDIX 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In Congress, July 4, lyyd 
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to 
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to 
assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which 
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among 
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, 
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destruc- 
tive of these ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to insti- 
tute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its 
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and 
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established 
should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experi- 
ence hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer- 
able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
tomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is 
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new 
Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these 
Colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former 
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the estab- 
lishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be 
submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the 
public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing impor- 
tance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 
2 T 641 



642 APPENDIX 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of 
people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the 
Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly 
firmness his invasions on the rights of the people [p. 128].^ 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be 
elected ; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned 
to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time 
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States ; for that pur- 
pose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners ; refusing to pass others 
to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appro- 
priations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws 
for establishing Judiciary Powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, 
and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers 
to harass our People, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace. Standing Armies without the Consent 
of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil 
Power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our con- 
stitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pre- 
tended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us [p. 125] : 

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which 
they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world [p. 128] : 

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent [pp. 123, 126] : 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury [p. I2i]: 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences : 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, 
establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as 
to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same abso- 
lute rule into these Colonies : 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering 
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments : 

* Page numbers in brackets refer to pages of the text. 



APPENDIX 643 

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with 
Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and 
waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed 
the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat 
the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of 
Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally un- 
worthy the Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear 
Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Breth- 
ren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose 
known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and 
conditions. 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most 
humble terms : Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated in- 
jury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define 
a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People. 

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have 
warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwar- 
rantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of 
our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice 
and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred 
to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections 
and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of con- 
sanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our 
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind. Enemies in War, in 
Peace Friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General 
Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude 
of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these 
Colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these United Colonies are, and of 
Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all 
Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as 
Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, 
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which 
Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with 
a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 
other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



644 APPENDIX 

[Signers arranged by States] 

Nezv Hampshire — Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton. 
Massachusetts Bay — Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge 
Gerry. 

Rhode Island — Step. Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut — ^OGEK Sherman, Sam'el Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver 

WOLCOTT. 

New York — Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frans. Lewis, Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey — Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Eras. Hopkinson, 
John Hart, Abra. Clark. 

Pennsylvania — Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John 
Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross. 

Delaware — Cesar Rodney, Geo. Read, Tho. M'Kean. 

Maryland — Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton. 

Virginia — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Th. Jefferson, Benja. 
Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina — Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina — Edward Rutledge, Thos. Heyward, Junr., Thomas Lynch, 
Junr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton. 



ANNOTATED CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES 

[Preamble] 

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, estab- 
lish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of libeFty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

[Legislative Department] 

Section i. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representa- 
tives. 

Section 2. i. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature [pp. 172, 437]. 

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age 
of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes ^ shall be apportioned [p. 171] among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respec- 
tive numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free 
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three fifths of all other persons.^ The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, 
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by 
law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such 
enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connect- 
icut five. New York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mary- 
land six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

1 See the i6th Amendment, p. 658. 

2 Partly superseded by the 14th Amendment. (See below, p. 657.) 

64s 



646 APPENDIX 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; 
and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section 3. i. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
senators from each State [p. 171], chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years 
[p, 172] ; and each senator shall have one vote.^ 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first elec- 
tion, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of 
the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at 
the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second 
year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of 
the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.^ 

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty 
years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, 
in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside: and no person shall 
be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal 
from office, and disquaUfication to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit 
under the United States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. i. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators 
and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; 
but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as 
to the places of choosing senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meet- 
ing shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint 
a different day. 

Section 5. i. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum 
to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and 
under such penalties as each House may provide. 

* See the 17th Amendment, below, p. 658. 



APPENDIX 647 

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its mem- 
bers for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a 
member. 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at 
the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. i. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of 
the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of 
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, 
be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which 
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased dur- 
ing such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be 
a member of either House during his continuance in office. 

Section 7. i. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Repre- 
sentatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other 
bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objec- 
tions to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objec- 
tions at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such recon- 
sideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, 
together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be re- 
considered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. 
But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Presi- 
dent within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) 
shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and before the same 
shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be 
repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 



648 APPENDIX 



Section 8. i. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, 
imposts and excises [pp. 165, 173, 185], to pay the debts and provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and 
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations [pp. 165, 171], and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the sub- 
ject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the 
standard of weights and measures ; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States ; 

7. To establish post offices and post roads ; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited 
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and 
discoveries ; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
and offenses against the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules con- 
cerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies [pp. 165, 173], but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and 
the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district 
(not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, 
and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the 
legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, maga- 
zines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitu- 
tion in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Section 9. i. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 



APPENDIX 649 

States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight [p. 172], but a 
tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the 
census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken [p. 171].^ 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to 
the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, 
one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another [p. 165]. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appro- 
priations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

Section 10. i. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
tion; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts [p. 168]; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports [p. 165], except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid 
by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the 
United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 
keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 
with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually in- 
vaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II 

[Executive Department] 

Section i. i. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America [pp. 165, 172]. He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected, as follows : 

1 See the i6th Amendment, below, p. 658. 



650 



APPENDIX 



2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct [p. 172], a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and 
representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no senator 
or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

^ The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two 
persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with 
themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the 
number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the presi- 
dent of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Sen- 
ate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the 
President [p. 192], if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President [p. 192] ; and if no person have a majority 
then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose 
the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, 
the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States, and a majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of 
the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall 
be the Vice President [p. 192]. But if there should remain two or more who have 
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by'ballot the Vice President.^ 

3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day 
on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. 

4. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States. 

5. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resigna- 
tion, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and 
Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer 
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, 
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall 

* The following paragraph was in force only from 1788 to 1803. 
2 Superseded by the 12th Amendment. (See p. 656.) 



APPENDIX 651 

have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolu- 
ment from the United States, or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath 
or affirmation : — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United^States," 

Section 2. i. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into 
the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of 
the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relat- 
ing to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant 
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases 
of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to make treaties [p. 203], provided two thirds of the senators present concur [p. 
365]; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the 
Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments 
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law : but 
the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of depart- 
ments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen dur- 
ing the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end 
of their next session. 

Section 3. i. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, con- 
vene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them 
with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as 
he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; 
he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all 
the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

[Judicial Department\ 

Section i. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one 
Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish [p. 173]. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, 
shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for 



652 APPENDIX 



^ 



their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their contin- 
uance in office. 

Section 2. i. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, 
arising under this Constitution,'the laws of the United States, and treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; r— to all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction; — to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; — to 
controversies between two or more States ; — between a State and citizens of 
another State; ^ — between citizens of different States, — between citizens of the 
same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or 
the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and 
those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- 
diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and to fact, with such exceptions, and under 
such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; 
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been 
committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such 
place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section 3. i. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levy- 
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com- 
fort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two 
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but 
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during 
the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

[Return of Escaped Slaves ; New States : Territories] 

Section i. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and pro- 
ceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. i. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall 
flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive 
authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escap- 
ing into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- 

1 See the nth Amendment, p. 655. 



APPENDIX 653 



charged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party 
to whom such service or labor may be due [pp. 367, 377]. 

Section 3. i. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union 
[p- 367] ; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction 
of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, 
or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned 
as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United 
States [pp. 210, 211, 370, 375, 379, 382]; and nothing in this Constitution shall 
be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; 
and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can- 
not be convened) against domestic violence [p. 168]. 

ARTICLE V 

[Provision for Amendments] 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legis- 
latures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing 
amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as 
part of this Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the 
several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; Provided that no amend- 
ment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the 
first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

[Public Debts; Supremacy of the Constitution] 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of 
this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitu- 
tion, as under the Confederation [p. 181]. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the 
Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws 
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of 
the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the 



654 



APPENDIX 



United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to 
support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a quali- 
fication to any office or public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII 

[Ratification] 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient tor the estab- 
lishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present the seven- 
teenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the 
twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

Go : Washington — 

Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia 



Articles in addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the United States 
of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the legislatures of the several 
States pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution. 

[The Right of Persons (p. i8i)] 

ARTICLE P 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or pro- 
hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
press [p. 191]; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II 

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right 
of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III 

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the con- 
sent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants 
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and partic- 
ularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

^ The first ten Amendments adopted in 1791. 



APPENDIX 655 

ARTICLE V 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, 
unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising 
in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war 
or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be 
a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just 
compensation. 

ARTICLE VI 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and 
public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall 
have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by 
law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining wit- 
nesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty 
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury 
shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to 
the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 
unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X 

[The Rights of States] 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XII 

[Suits against States] 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any 
suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States 
Ip. 182] by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

1 Adopted in 1798. 



656 APPENDIX 

ARTICLE XIII 

[Change in Electoral System] 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for Presi- 
dent ^and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the 
same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted 
for as President, and in distinct ballots, the person voted for as Vice President, 
and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President and of all 
persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which 
lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of 
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 
all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the 
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be 
a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of 
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if 
the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, 
then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number 
of votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of dectors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice Presi- 
dent; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number 
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the oJBice of President shall be eligible 
to that of Vice President of the United States. 



ARTICLE XIII 2 

[Slavery Prohibited] 

Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment 
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction [pp. 404-406]. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

^ Adopted in 1804. 2 Adopted in 1865. 



APPENDIX 657 

ARTICLE XIV [pp. 432-433] ^ 
[Who Are Citizens] 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein 
they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor 
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

[Apportionment of Representatives and the Suffrage] 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according 
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, 
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, representa- 
tives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of 
the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of repre- 
sentation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male 
citizens shall bear to thje whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age 
in such State. 

[Exclusion of Certain Persons from Office] 

3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of 
President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United 
States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member 
of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legis- 
lature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Consti- 
tution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against 
the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by 
a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

[Union and Confederate Debts] 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, 
including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in sup- 
pressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of 
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held 
illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article. 

1 Adopted in 1868. 
2U 



658 APPENDIX 

ARTICLE XV[p. 43Sl* 
[Right to Vote] 

Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied, 
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or pre- 
vious condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

ARTICLE XVI 2 
[Income Tax] 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from what- 
ever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without 
regard to any census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII 3 

[Popular Election of Senators] 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each 
State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have 
one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for 
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the 
executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies : 
Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof 
to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as 
the legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of 
any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 

^Adopted in 1870. 

2 Passed July, 1909; proclaimed February 25, 1913. 

3 Passed May, 1912, in lieu of paragraph one. Section 3, Article I, of the Con- 
stitution and so much of paragraph two of the same Section as relates to the filling 
of vacancies; proclaimed May 31, 1913. 



REFERENCE BOOKS 

I. Approved List and Recent Publications Suggested tor 
General Reading and Study 

Channing. — "History of the United States," 8 vols. 
McMaster. — " History of the People of the United States," 7 vols. 
^ Rhodes. — "History of the United States," 7 vols. 

Schouler. — "History of the United States under the Constitution," 6 vols. 
Coman. — "Industrial History of the United States." 
Elson. — "History of the United States." 

^ Mead (Editor). — "Old South Leaflets." Reprints of important original 
documents with historical and biographical notes. 

1 Green. — "A Short History of England." 
Church. — " Stories from English History." 
^ "The Crusaders." 

^ Guizot. — "History of Civilization in France," 3 vols. 

2 Chamberlain. — "Geographic Readers." 

"True Stories of Great Americans," a series of biographies of great per- 
sonages in our history, 

^ " Stories from American History," several volumes on the various aspects 
of our history. 

State and local histories. 

n. Listed in the Text under Problems for Further Study 

2 Baldwin. — "Discovery of the Old Northwest." 

1 Bass. — "Stories of Pioneer Life." 

2 Bolton. — "Famous Men of Science." 

Brigham. — "Geographic Influences in American History." 

1 Brooks. — "Stories of the Old Bay State." 

2 Bryan. — "Sam Houston." 

1 Coffin. — " Boys of Seventy-Six." 
Coombs. — "Ulysses S. Grant." 
Dudley. — "Benjamin Franklin." 
Du Bois. — "The Soul of a Black Man." 

1 Listed in the " Report of the Committee of Eight." 

2 Listed in the " Sixteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of 
Education," 

659 



66o APPENDIX 

1 Eggleston. — **Our First Century.*' 

1 Elson. — "Side-Lights on American History." 
Garland. — " Son of the Middle Border.*' 
Oilman. — "Robert E. Lee." 

2 Guerber. — "Stories of Modern France." 
Gulliver. — "Daniel Boone." 

Hale and Chester. — "The Panama Canal." 
^ Hart. — "Colonial Children." 

"Camps and Firesides of the Revolution." 

"How Our Grandfathers Lived." 

"Romance of the Civil War." 

"Source Book in American History." 
Hasbrouck. — "La Salle." 

1 Hitchcock. — "The Louisiana Purchase." 
Holland. — "William Penn." 

Johnson. — "Captain John Smith." 

^ Lighton. — "Lewis and Clark." 

Lodge and Roosevelt. — "Hero Tales from American History." 

McMurry. — "Pioneers on Land and Sea." 

"Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley." 

"Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West. 

2 Mowry. — "American Inventions and Inventors." 
2 Nicolay. — "Abraham Lincoln." 

Nida. — "Dawn of American History in Europe." 

1 Parkman. — "The Struggle for a Continent." 

2 Pratt. — "Cortes and Montezuma." 
Rideing. — "George Washington." 
Rolt-Wheeler. — "Thomas A. Edison." 

1 Semple. — "American History and Geographical Condition." 

1 Smith-Dutton. — "The Colonies." 

^ Southworth. — "Builders of our Country." 

1 Sparks. — "Men who Made the Nation." 
Sprague. — "Davy Crockett." 

Stapley. — "Christopher Columbus." 
Sutcliffe. — "Robert Fulton." 

2 Tappan. — "American Hero Tales." 

"England's Story." 
1 Tiffany. — "Pilgrims and Puritans." 
Twain. — "Roughing It." 
1 Warren. — "Stories from English History." 
Washington. — "Up from Slavery." 

Wheeler. — "The Boy with the United States Foresters." 
Wilson. — "Addresses and Papers." 



APPENDIX 66 1 



III. Suggested for the Teacher's Library 

Andrews, Gambrill, and Tall. — "A Bibliography of History for Schools." 
Bourne. — "Teaching History and Civics." 
Hinsdale. — *'How to Study and Teach History." 

Johnson. — "Teaching History in Elementary and Secondary Schools." 
McMurry. — "Special Method in History." ^ 

Robinson and Beard. — "Readings in Modern European History." 
Simpson. — "Supervised Study in History." 
Wayland. — "How to Teach American History." 



INDEX 



Academies, rise of, 348 

Acadia, founded, 32; captured by English, 
85 

Adams, Abigail, Mrs., 167 

Adams, John, 156, 167, 189, 190, 195 

Adams, John Quincy, 252-254, 272, 373 

Adams, Samuel, 123 

African Colonization Society, 366 

Agriculture, 6, 98-103, 285, 469 

Agricultural colleges, 560; experiment sta- 
tions, 562 

Aguinaldo, 551 

Alabama, created, 212; admitted to the 
Union, 222; secedes, 390; iron produc- 
tion, 448; iron deposits, 474; coal in- 
dustry, 475 

Alabama, Confederate cruiser, 411 

Alabama affair, 539-540 

Alamo (a'la-mo), the, 271 

Alaska, Russians in, 93; purchased by the 
United States, 94, 466; history of, 466; 
minerals in, 466 

Alien and sedition laws, 190, 191 

Allen, Ethan, 141 

Amendments, to the Constitution of the 
United States, the first eleven, 181-182, 
654-655 ; twelfth amendment, 192, 656 ; 
thirteenth amendment, 392-393, 656; 
fourteenth amendment, 432, 657 ; fifteenth 
amendment, 434, 658; sixteenth amend- 
ment, 526, 658; proposed amendment, 
536; seventeenth amendment, 582, 658. 
See Constitution 

America, origin of name, 27 

American Associated Press, 567 

American Civic Federation, 516 

Andre (an'dra). Major, 150 

Andros, Sir Edmund, 83 

Annapolis convention, 170 

Anthony, Susan B., 336, 585 

Antietam, battle of, 400 

Anti-Federalist party, the, 186. See Repub- 
Ucan party 

Anti-trust legislation, 533, 603 

Appomattox, Lee's surrender at, 422 



Arbitration, of disputes with England, 539- 

541 
Argus, the, 238 
Arizona, Spanish in the territory, 91 ; ceded 

to the United States, 276; exploration by 

Pike, 280 ; admission to Union, 465 
Arkansas, cotton growing in, 267 ; admission 

to Union, 268; secedes, 395; struggle for, 

401 
Armada (ar-ma'da), Spanish, defeat of, 35 
Anny, the Revolutionary, 159; War of 181 2, 

234; Civil War, 397, 403, 404, 420; 

Spanish-American War, 547, 549, 551 ; 

War with Mexico, 604; Great War, 627, 

628 
Arnold, Benedict, 142, 150, 151 
Arthur, Chester A., 523, 525 
Articles of Confederation, 164-166, 167, 168, 

172 
Artisans, rise of, 14 
Ashburton, Lord, 263 
Assmnption of state debts, 182-184 
Astoria, 277 

Atlanta, battle of, 419-420 
Atlantic cable, 308 
Austin, Moses, 270 
AustraUau ballot, 577 
Austria, sixteenth century, 5 ; demands on 

Serbia bring war, 609 ; intrigue in United 

States, 619 
Autocracy, German, 622 

Balboa, discovers Pacific, 27 

Ballot reform, 577 

Baltimore, 106, 397, 602 

Baltimore, Lord, 56, 57 

Bank, First United States, 184; Second 

United States, 240 ; attacked by Jackson, 

260-261 ; opposed by Tyler, 263 ; Federal 

Reserve, 530-531 
Baptists, 43 
Barnard, Henry, 344 
Barry, Captain John, 155 
Beauregard (bo're gard). General P. G. T., 

399 



663 



664 



INDEX 



Behring (be'ring), or Bering, name given to 
straits, 93, 242 

Belgium, invaded, 609 

Bell, Alexander Graham, 483 

Bell Telephone Company, 487 

Bennington, battle of, 148, 149 

Bernstorflf, Count Johann von, 617 

Bible, reading of, 45 

Bienville (byan-vel'), 80 

"Bimetallism," 530 

Birmingham, 448 

Black Hills, 461 

Blaine, James G., 523 

Blockade, England by France, 229-230; 
Civil War, 409-413 ; Great War, 611 

"Blockade runners," 410-41 1 

"Bonanza" farms, 462 

Bond servants, 53, 54, 72-75 

Bonhomme Richard, 155 

Boone, Daniel, 100, 216 

Boston, settlement of, 53 ; population of, in 
1763,106; Massacre, 125-126; Tea Party, 
126-127; Port Bill, 128; British quartered 
in, 136; siege of, 140; evacuated by 
British, 141 ; first public High School, 
348 ; early newspaper in, 353 

Boston and Albany Railroad, 306 

Boxer Rebellion, 551 

Braddock's defeat, 85-86 

Bragg, General Braxton, 417 

Brandywine, battle of, 146 

Breed's Hill, 140 

British, see England 

Brown, John, raid, 383 

Bruges (bro'jez), 16 

Bryan, William J., 524, 525, 530, 552 

Bryant, William Culien, 359 

Buchanan (bu-kan'an), James, 380, 392 

Buena Vista (bwa'na ves ta), battle of, 274 

Buenos Ayres (bwa'nos i rez), 240 

Buffalo, 301, 322, 474 

Bull Run, first battle, 398 ; second battle, 400 

Bunker Hill, 140, 141 

Bunyan, John, 43 

Burgesses, House of, in Virginia, 50 ; protest 
against stamp tax, 1 23 

Burgoyne (ber-goinO, General, 148-149 

Burke, Edmund, 131, 132 

Bumside, General A. E., 401 

Burr, Aaron, 192 

Business men, 486-488 

Cabot, John, explorations of, si 

Cahokia, 156 

Calhoun, John C, 235, 254, 256^273,>74^374 



California, early Spanish operations, 91-93 ; 
ceded to United States, 276; early Amer- 
ican trade with, 279; gold discovered in, 
281 ; miners in, 284 ; admission to the 
Union, 282, 375, 376, 455 ; gold mining in, 
475 ; oil in, 475 ; Chinese in, 499 

Calvin, John, 43 

Cambridge, 141 

Camden, battle of, 153 

Canada, ceded to England, 88; opened to 
Protestant settlers, 90; retained by 
British, 156 ; in the War of 181 2, 236, 237 ; 
Webster-Ashburton treaty, 263 ; arbitra- 
tion of disputes, 541 ; reciprocity with, 
defeated, 600 

Canals, 299-302 

Capital, for investment in colonies, 46 y and 
labor, 508-517; problem of, new aspects, 
S19 

.Caribbean, American interests in, 605 

Carolinas, founded, 58 ; separated into North 
and South, 58; royal provinces, 59; 
Presbyterians in, 70, 71 ; early settlements 
in, 100; emigration from, 216 

Carpet-baggers, 435 

Carpenters' Hall, 128 

Carranza, 604, 605 

Carteret, Sir George, 62 

Cartier (kar-tya'), explorations of, 32 

Catechism, and early education, 115 

Catholic Church, missionaries of, 2, 81, 91 ; 
clergy of, 11-13; Protestant revolt 
against, 41 

Catholics, in Maryland, 56 

Cattle rangers, in the West, 285, 459, 450 

Cavaliers, in Virginia, 71 

Centennial Exposition, 562 

Cervera (ther-va'ra), Admiral, 547 

Champlain (sham-plan'), explorations of, 32, 
77 

Champlain, Lake, 142, 238 

Champoeg (now Young's Ranch), 278 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 413 

Chapultepec (cha-pol-te-pek'), battle of, 275 

Charles I, gives grant to Lord Baltimore, 56 ; 
charters Massachusetts Bay Company, 52 

Charles II, grant to William Penn, 57 ; gives 
New Netherland to Duke of York, 62 ; 
and Oregon country, 207 

Charleston (Vir.), 58, 106, 152, 394 

Charlestown (Mass.), 138, 140 

Chatham, Earl of, 131. See William Pitt 

Chattanooga, battle of, 417 

Chautauqua, origin and growth of, 569 

Chesapeake, the, 234 ; Affair, 238 



INDEX 



66s 



Chicago, 298; railway connections with the 
East, 306; rise of, 322; iron and steel 
industrj', 474; strike of 1888, 515; strike 
of 1894, 515 

Chickamauga (chik a ma'ga), battle of, 417 

Child labor, 316-317, 491-492, 616 

Chile, 240 

China, antiquity of, i; visited by Polo, 15; 
early trade with, 20; trade with the 
United States, 324; rebellion in, 551; 
indemnity, 552; "open door," 552 

Chinese, immigration of, 499 ; exclusion act, 
506 

Chippewa (chip'e-wa), 236 

Christian rehgion, spread of, 2 

Church of England, 42, 52, 54 

Cincinnati, 219, 298, 299, 301, 302, 322 

Cities, colonial, 106; growth of, 322, 490- 
491; problems of, 574; civil service re- 
form in, 575-576 

City government, new problems of, 322-323 

City manager plan, 580 

Civil service reform, 534; in states and 
cities, 575-576 

Civil War, 390-426 ; first bloodshed, 397 ; 
campaigns of, 398-422 ; war on the 
water, 408-413; close of, 422; cost of, 
423-424; effect on poUtics, 522 

Clark, George Rogers, 155-156 

Clark, see Lewis and Clark 

Classes, in European society, 6-14 

Clay, Henry, 235, 252, 253, 259, 261, 262, 376 

Clayton Law, 534^603 

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 593 

Clergy, 11-13 

Clermont, the, 302 

Cleveland, 301, 322, 474, 475 

Cleveland, Grover, 515, 523, 524, 525, 540, 
541, 543, 545 

CUnton, General Sir Henry, 152 

Clinton, De Witt, 299, 300, 301, 305, 344 

Coal, production of, 475 

Cold Harbor, battle of, 420 

Colleges, colonial, 116; state supported, 560 

Colombia, Republic of, 594 

Colorado, early Spanish operations in, 91, 92 ; 
admission to the Union, 459; history of, 
459; coal industry, 475; copper mining, 
475 ; gold mining, 475 

Columbia River, 204, 277 

Columbus, Christopher, Hfe and discover^', 
23-26 

Commerce, see Trade 

Commission government in cities, 579-580 

Committees of Correspondence, 130 



Common law, in, 112 

Common Sense, 357 

Community center plan, 563-564 

Compromise of 1850, 376-377 

Confederate States of America, 391 

Confederation, Articles of, see Articles of 
Confederation , ^ 

Confederation, New England, 55 

Congress, First Continental, 128, 130; 
Second, 130, 139, 141, 142, 143, 145, 154, 
159, 164, 167 

Congress, under the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 165, 168; under the Constitution, 173 

Connecticut, founded, 55 ; new constitution, 
166; in Constitutional Convention, 170; 
claims on western land, 209; suffrage in, 
335 ; education in, 344 

Conscription, during the Civil War, 397 ; 
the Great War, 626, 627, 628 

Conservation movement, 469, 470, 588, 589, 
590 

Constantinople, fall of, 20 

Constellation, the, 190 

Constitution of the United States, 164-177, 
645-658; commerce and, 165, 168, 171, 
173; demand for, 167; compromises of, 
170-172; drafting of, 170-174; contrasted 
with the Articles of Confederation, 172, 
173; important powers of Congress, 173; 
adoption of, 174; ratification of, 174-176; 
Amendments to, 181-182, 192 (note), 392- 
393, 432, 433, 434, 435, 526, 582, 654-658; 
Lincoln's view of, 393 ; Southern view of, 
390. See also Amendments to Constitu- 
tional Convention, 1787, 170 

Constitution, the, 238 

Continental currency, 183 (note) 

Cooper, James Fenimore, 358 

Copperheads, 403 

Copper mining, 475 

Cornwallis, General, Charles, 153 

Coronado, explorations of, 31, 32 

Corporations, see Trusts 

Cortes (kor-tas'), or Cortez, conquest of 
Mexico, 28, 29 

Cotton gin, 291 

Cotton, industry, rise of, 289-293 ; produc- 
tion of, 373 ; effect on slavery, 373 ; and 
the blockade, 410; revival of trade, 446; 
spinning in the South, 447 

County, as the unit in the South, in 

Cowboys, 459, 460 

Cowpens, battle of, 153 

Criminals, transported to America, 72 

Crisis, the, 357 



666 



INDEX 



Crittenden Compromise, 392 

Crockett, Davy, 270 

Cropper system, 444, 445 

Crown Point, 141 

Crusades and trade, 14 

Cuba, discovery of, 26; exploration from, 

30; revolt in, 544; war over, 545-549; 

position in the Caribbean, 605 
Cumberland Gap, 100, 212, 216 
Cumberland Road, 220 
Currency question, 530-531 

Da Gama (ga'ma), Vasco, 26 

Dakotas, explored, 204 ; growth of, 461-462 ; 
admitted to Union, 463 ; emigration to, 498 

Danes, immigration of, 498 

Danish West Indies, purchase of, 606. See 
Virgin Islands 

Davenport, John, 55 

Davis, Jefferson, 391, 393, 394, 396, 414, 419 

Debs, Eugene V., 515, 519 

Debt, Revolutionary, assumption of state, 
182; funding of, 182; national, 195 

Declaration of Rights, 128, 130 

Declaratory Act, 125 

De Grasse (gras). Count, 153 

De Kalb, Baron, 158 

Delaware, founded by the Swedes, 5, 58; 
unit of government, iii; appointment of 
colonial governor in, 114; first state con- 
stitution, 166; ratifies Constitution, 174 

De Leon, Ponce (da la on', pon'tha), ex- 
plorations of, 30 

De Lesseps (les'eps), Ferdinand, 593 

Democracy, colonial, 112; western, 222-227; 
industrial, rise of, 319-321 ; early Amer- 
ican principles of, 328-330; Hamilton's 
attitude toward, 330; Jefferson's attitude 
toward, 330; the new, 573-586; and 
suffrage, 5^S~5^^', at war, 626 

Democratic party. Republicans take the 
name of, 255; divided in i860, 386-387 ; 
and slavery, 379; influence of labor on, 
513; administrations under, 522-524; 
issues in, 524-531; political campaign, 
1916, 615 

Department of Labor, 513 

De Soto (so'to), Hernando, explorations of, 
30 

Detroit, surrendered to British, 237; trad- 
ing center, 322 

Dewey, Admiral George, 546 

Diaz (de'as), Bartholomew, 23 

Dingley Tariff Act, 525 

Direct primary, 581 



Directory, the French, 190 
Dissenters, 43 
District of Columbia, 376 
Division of labor, 312, 313 
Dominican Repubhc, 605 
Donelson, Fort, 401 
Dorchester Heights, 140, 141 
Dorr's Rebellion, 333-335 
Douglas, Stephen, 379, 380, 383 
Draft, the, 397, 626-628. See Conscription 
Drake, Francis, 33-34 
Dred Scott decision, 381, 382 
Dunkards, 70 

Duquesne (dii-kan'), Fort, 85 
Dutch, rise of, 5 ; Reformation among, 41 ; 
found New Amsterdam, 60-61 

Early, General, 421 

Earth, thought to be flat, 22 

Ecuador, 240 

Edison, Thomas A., 484, 485-486 

Education, early, in Europe, 8-9, 12-13; 
colonial, 11 4-1 16; land granted for, 169; 
in Northwest Territory, 210; on the 
frontier, 225-226; growth of, in nine- 
teenth century, 339-352; higher, 349- 
352; development of, since i860, 557-566. 
See Schools 

Eight-hour law, 616 

El Caney, battle of, 547 

Electric hght, 484 

Elizabeth, queen of England, 33-35 ; trouble 
with the Puritans,-- 42; names Virginia, 
47 (note) 

Emancipation, 403-406 

Embargo Act, the, 231-233 

Emigration, to America, reasons for, 41-46; 
early, 66-68; from New England, Vir- 
ginia, and the Carolinas, 216 

Employees, protective organizations of, 511- 
513 

Employers' organizations, 513 

England, origin of, 2 ; rivalry with France 
and Spain, 4 ; serfdom, 8 ; explorations 
of, 33 ; Reformation in, 41-44; treatment 
of peasants, 44; colonial policies of, 82- 
84; contest with France for North 
America, 84-88; imperial colonial policy, 
120-122; commerce with, 187-188; treaty 
with, 188-189; controversy with United 
States during Napoleonic wars, 229-234; 
second war with, 229-240; and Holy 
Alliance, 241 ; Oregon boundaiy dispute, 
279-280; controversies with, 539-541; 
menaced by Germany, 609 



INDEX 



ee^ 



Ericsson, Captain John, 412 

Erie Canal, 299-302 

Erie, Lake, battle of, 238 

Erie Railroad, 306 

"Established Church," see Church of 

England 
Europe, beginnings of American history in, 

I. 4. 
European War of 19 14, 609-633 
Excise tax, 185, 195 
Export trade, growth of, 488, 489 
Express, origin and development of, 306-307 

Farm loan system, 616 

Farm machinery, improvements in, 296-298 

Farming in the colonies, 98-99, loo-ioi 

Farragut, Admiral David G., 403, 4^3 

Federal Reserve, Banks, 530-531 ; Law, 603 

Federal Trade Commission, 534 

Federalist, The, 174, 358 

FederaUst party, 186, 187, 189-191, 195, 
251; newspapers, 355 

Ferdinand, of Spain, 24 

Field, Cyrus W., 308 

Fifteenth Amendment, 434-435, 658 

"Fifty-four forty, or fight," 278-279 

Filipinos, 549; revolt of, 551; share in the 
goverimient, 554 

Florida, explored, 30-31 ; ceded to England, 
88; ceded to Spain, 156; purchased by 
the United States, 206, 269; admitted 
to the Union, (note), 206; secedes, 390 

Food, national control of, 629 

Foote, Commodore Andrew H., 401, 413 

Ford Theater, 422 

Foreign labor, 488 

Forests, waste of, 493 ; national, 591-592 ; 
ranges, 592 

Fourteenth .Amendment, 432, 657 

Fox, Charles James, friend of America, 131 

France, early history, 2 ; rivalry with Eng- 
land and Spain, 4; early unity in, 4; 
explorations of, 32-33, 77-81; colonial 
policies of, 81-82 ; contest with England 
for Ohio country, 84-86; make alliance 
with United States, 149-150; aids in 
the war of the Revolution, 149-154; 
Revolution in, 187; controversy with 
United States, 190; attacked by Ger- 
many, 609 

Franklin, Benjamin, 116, 138, 149, 156, 158, 
170 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 401 

Free silver, see Silver 

Free soil party, 379 



Free trade, see Tariff 

Freedmen, see Negro 

Fremont, J. C, 275, 3S0 

French, see France 

French and Indian war, 85-90 

French Revolution, 187 

Friends (Quakers), 43 ; found Pennsylvania, 

57; influence of, 70; attitude towards 

slavery, 325, 367 
Frontier, disappearance of, 489 
Fuel, national control of, 629 
Fugitive slave law, 377 
Fulton, Robert, 302 
Funding the debt, 182-184 
Fur trade, in the early Northwest, 93, 284 

"Gag rule," 372 

Gage, General Thomas, 136 

Galveston, 449, 579 

Garfield, James A., 523; assassination of, 
523, 535 

Garrison, William Lloyd, 272, 337, 371 

Gates, General Horatio, 149, 153 

Gateways to the Middle West, 212 

Genet (zhe-na'), 188 

Genoa (jen'oa), 15 

George III, king of England, rejoices over 
peace of 1763, 98; stubbonmess of, 120- 
121 ; and the Declaration of Independence, 
142 ; and the Hessian soldiers, 146 

Georgia, founded, 59; made a royal prov- 
ince, 60; government of, 112; "first 
state constitution, 166; ratifies Consti- 
tution, 174; secedes, 390; war in, 418; 
revival of industry in, 448 

Germans, immigration of, 318; their present 
standing in America, 610, 630 

Germantown, battle of, 146 ; Germany, i6th 
century, 4-5 ; Samoan question, 542 ; 
in the Great War, 609-633 

Gettysburg, battle of, 414-415 

Ghent, Treaty of, 239 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 47 (note) 

Goethals, Colonel George W., 595 

Gold, in Mexico and Peru, 29, 30; in Cali- 
fornia, 281, 282 ; mining, 475 

Gompers, Samuel, 512, 513 

Gorgas, Dr. WilHam, 595 

Governing class, colonial, 113 

Government, colonial, in New England, 107- 
109; in the Middle Colonies, no, in; 
in the South, in; Ukenesses in govern- 
ment between the North and the South, 
111-112; representative, 112, 113; con- 
tests between government by royal gov- 



668 



INDEX 



ernors and by representative assemblies, 

114; causes of increasing interest in, 573- 

575 ; direct, 581 
Grady, Henry W., 442 
Grandfather clause, 437 
Grant, General Ulysses S., 401, 416, 418, 

419, 420, 421, 422, 434, 522 
Gray, Captain Robert, 207, 277 
Great Britain, see England 
Great Lakes, explored, ss, 78, 79 
Greeley, Horace, 356, 392, 522 
Greenback, 527, 528 ; party, 529 
"Green Mountain Boys," 141, 149 
Greene, General Nathanael, 153 
Grower, Lord, 133 
Guam, 549 
Guilford, battle of, 153 

"Hail, Columbia," written, 190 

Haiti, 26, 605, 606 

Hale, John P., 379 

Halifax, 141 

Hamilton, Alexander, 168, 170, 182-187, 

188, 192, 330 
Hancock, General Winfield Scott, 523 
Hard times, 231-232 
Harnsden, \V. F., 306 
Harper's Ferry, raid at, 383-384 
Harrisburg, 99 

Harrison, Benjamin, 524, 541 
Harrison, William Henry, 262-263 
Hartford, founded, 55; population of, in 

colonial times, 106; convention, 236 
Harvard College, 116 
Hawaii, 542, 543 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 359 
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, 594 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 523 
Hayes-Tilden dispute, 522-523 
Hayne, Paul Hamilton, 360 
Hayne, Robert, 257 
Hazard, Rowland, 294 
Henry, Fort, 401 
Henry, Patrick, 123, 138 
Henry VH, aids John Cabot, 33 
Henry VHI, not interested in exploration, 

33 ; break with the Pope, 42, 44 
Hessians, 146 
High schools, origin of, 348-349 ; growth of, 

559-560 
Hohenzollems, iron rule of, 624; dream of 

world dominion, 624-625 
Holland, Pilgrims in, 51 ; see Dutch 
Holy Alliance, 240-241 
Holy Roman Empire, 5 



Homestead Act, 457-458, 462, 467 
Homesteads, demand for free, 385 ; act 

passed, 457-458; and immigration, 497- 

498 
Hood, General Joseph, 419 
Hooker, Joseph, 401, 413 
Hooker, Thomas, 55 
House of Representatives, formation of, 171, 

172 
Houston, General Sam, 271 
Howe, EHas, 295 
Hudson, Henry, 60-61 
Hudson River, discovery of, 61 
Huerta, 603-604 
Hughes, Charles E., 615, 616 
Huguenots, settle in America, 62 
Hutchinson, Anne, 109, no 

Iberville (e-ber-vel'), or d'Iberville, 
Pierre le Moyne, 80 

Idaho, admission to the Union, 464; gold 
mining in, 475 

Illinois, in Northwest Territory, 211; im- 
migration to, 219; population, 18 10, 221; 
admitted to the Union, 222 ; pioneers 
from Virginia and North Carohna, 325 ; 
early education in, 347; early suffrage 
in, 333; coal industry, 475 

Illiteracy, 557-558 

Immigration, German, 317-318, 497 ; Irish, 
317, 496; Scandinavian, 498; Biureau of, 
498; Chinese, 499; various nationaUties, 
500; changes in, 500; settlement in 
cities, 501-502 ; increase in, 502-503 ; 
transient, 504; effect on citizenship, 504; 
arguments for and against restriction, 
505; laws restricting, 506 

Imperialism, a political issue, 552, 553 

Impressment, of American sailors, 233-234 

Impressment, of colonial labor, 72 

Income tax, agitation for, 525-526; im- 
constitutionaHty of, 526; act passed, 526; 
constitutional amendment, 598; law, 603 

Independence, Declaration of, 142-144; 
as a basis for woman suffrage, 337 ; 
principles ot democracy in, 329. See 
Appendix, 641-644 

Indian Territoi^', opened to settlement, 
464. See Oklahoma. 

Indiana, in Northv/est Territory, 211; emi- 
gration to, 219; population, 1810, 221; 
admitted to the Union, 222; pioneers 
from Virginia and North Carolina, 325; 
early suffrage in, 333; early education 
in, 347 ; coal industry in, 475 



INDEX 



669 



Indians, North American, habits of, 39-40; 
in Northwest Territory, 215; in Oregon 
territory, 278; along the Santa Fe Trail, 
281 

Indies, the East, early trade, with, 14, 20; 
route to, 26, 32; trade with, 46 

Indies, West, see Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti 

Industries, in colonial times, 103-105, 316; 
protection of, 248; New England and 
Middle States, 251; machinery and, 
288-326; in the South, 447 ; changes in, 
482-483; captains of, 510; disputes 
in, 514-517; new markets for, 543 

Initiative, 578 

Intercolonial Wars, 84-go 

Internal improvements, 259-260 

Interstate commerce, regulation of, 532; 
Commission, 532 

Inventions, printing, invention and develop- 
ment, 45, 566; the great, 298-310; cause 
of progress, 324; development of, 483 

Inventors, 483-486 

Iowa, in Louisiana Territory, 203 ; admis- 
sion to the Union, 268; education in, 
268; immigration, 498 

Iron industry, colonial, 104; in western 
Pennsylvania, 296; in the South, 448; 
growth of, since 1865, 472-474; Lake Su- 
perior region, 474 

Irving, Washington, 359 

Isabella, of Spain, 24 

ItaUans, immigration of, 500 

Italy, in sixteenth century, 4-6 ; early trade 
of, 15, 20-21 

Jagkson, Andrew in Florida, 206 ; at New 
Orleans, 239; presidential candidate, 
252; elected President, 254; inaugurates 
spoils system," 255-256; and the tariff, 
256; and nullification, 256-259; and the 
Texan republic, 271-272 

Jackson, General Thomas J. ("Stonewall"), 
395, 413 

James I, intolerant toward Dissenters, 43 ; 
charters London and Plymouth Com- 
panies, 47 ; revokes Virginia charter, 50 ; 
religious intolerance of, 51 

James II, king of England, 62 

Jamestown, 48 

Japan, route to, $s ; trade with the United 
States, 324 

Japanese, exclusion act, 506 

Jay, John, 156; 188 

Jefferson, Thomas, and the Declaration of 
Independence, 143; and the "Northwest 



Ordinance," 169; not a member of 
Constitutional Convention, 170; founds 
a poHtical party, 185-186; candidate 
against Adams, 189; elected President, 
192 ; the Louisiana Purchase, 199-202 ; 
pohcies of, as President, 195-206, 231 , 
and the embargo, 231 ; refuses third term, 
233 ; and democracy, 330 ; educational 
plans, 350 ; and the press, 355 

Jews, immigration of, 500 

Johnson, Andrew, impeachment of, 434 

Johnston, General Joseph E., 395, 419, 
422 

Joliet (zho-lya'), 79, 198 

Jones, John Paul, 154 

Kansas, immigration into, 268; warfare 
in, 380, 381 ; admitted to the Union, 381 

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 379-380 

Kaskaskia, 156 

Kearny, General, PhiUp, 275 

Kearsarge, the, 411 

Kentucky, Daniel Boone in, 100; Blue 
Grass region, 100; resolutions, 191; 
population, 1790, 197; under the ordi- 
nance of 1787, 212; movement of popu- 
lation, 216; population, 1800, 217; 
pioneer life, 224-225; and the tariff, 
249; suffrage, 333, admitted to the 
Union, 368 ; remains in the Union, 395 

King George's War, 84 

King WiUiam's War, 84 

King's College, 116 

Kings, early power of, 13 

King's Mountain, 153 

Knights of Labor, 51 1-5 12 

"Know Nothing" party, 321 

Kosciuszko (k6s-i-u3'k6), 158 

Ku Klux Klan, 436-437 

Labor, colonial problem, 49, 67 ; division 
of, 312, 313; and women, 315-316; 
child, 316-317; emigrant labor, '317; 
the early movement, 318; organization 
of, 319, 511-513,* early leaders of, 320- 
321 ; competition between native and 
foreign, 321; and education, 341, 345; 
foreign, in American industry, 488; 
organized, and the law, 603 

Labor unions, federation of, 320 

Labrador, discovery of, 2,Z 

Lafayette (la-fa-yef), Marquis de, 147, 153, 
158 

Lancaster-Bell system of education, 342- 
343 



670 



INDEX 



Land, sale of western, 216-217; disposition 
of western, 259-260; public, disposal of, 
466-467 ; monopoly of, 466 ; government 
commission, 467-468; minerals and tim- 
ber, 469. See Homesteads 

Land-ownership, 10 1, 103 

Lanier, Sidney, 360 

La Salle (la-sal'), 79-80, 198 

Latin- America, independence of, 240; the 
Monroe doctrine, 243 

Latter Day Saints, see Mormons 

Leavenworth, Fort, 275 

Lee, General Charles, 150 

Lee, Richard Henry, 167 

Lee, General Robert E., 395, 400, 401, 414, 
415, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422 

Legislature, first colonial, 50 ; colonial, 112; 
first state, 166 

Leopard, the, 234 

Lewis, Meriwether, 203 

Lewis and Clark, expedition, 203-205 ; jour- 
nal of, 277 

Lexington, battle of, 136, 138 

Liberator, 371 

Liberty bonds, 629 

Liberty party, 379 

Libraries, 563 

Lincoln, debates with Douglas, 382-383 ; 
sketch, 386, 406-407 ; nominated, 386 ; 
first inaugural, 393-394; call for volun- 
teers, 394, 399 ; and emancipation, 403- 
404; reelection, 1864, 408; at Hampton 
Roads, 421; death of, 422-423; and re- 
construction, 431 

Lisbon, 21, 23, 28 

Liquor question, 535-536 

Locomotive, steam, 303-307 

London, early trade of, 15-16 

London Company, 47, 50, 52 

Long ballot, 576 

Long Island, battle of, 144 

Longfellow, Henry W., 359 

Lookout Mountain, battle of, 418" 

Loom, hand, 294 

Louis XIV, king of France, 79 ; wars of, 82 

Louis XVI aids the American colonists, 149- 
150; execution of, 187 

Louisiana, territory ceded to Spain, 88, 90; 
Spanish rule in, 90-91 ; description of, 
198-200 ; purchase of, 201 ; exploration 
of, 203-205; extent of, 214; state of, 
admitted to the Union, 222 ; inhabitants in, 
222; and the tariff, 249-250; secedes, 390 

Louisville, 218, 220, 322 

Lowell, James Russell, 359 



Lundy's Lane, 236 

Lusitania, the, 613, 614, 615 

Lutherans, 70 

Lyon, Mary, 345 

Lyon, General Nathaniel, 403 

Madero, Francisco, 603 

Madison, James, 170, 192, 235, 330 

Magazines, rise and growth of, 357, 567- 
568; illustrated, 567; popular, 568 

Magellan, 28 

Maine, route to Quebec, 142 ; admission to 
the 'tJnion, 222 (note), 370; boundary 
dispute, 263 

Maine, the, 545 

Manhattan, Island of, 61. See New York 

Manila, battle of, 546, 547, 548, 549 

Mann, Horace, 343-344, 35 1 

Manual training, 562. See Schools 

Manufacturing, beginnings of, 103-104; in 
the home, 104; acts forbidding, 120; 
favored by Hamilton, 248; women in, 
315-316; children and, 316-317; cotton, 
in the South, 447. See Tariff 

Marconi, GugUehno, 485 

Markets, foreign, search for, 543 

Marquette (mar-kef), 79, 198 

Maryland, founded, 56; religious toleration 
in, 56; appointment of colonial governor 
in, 114; state constitution, 166; Cum- 
berland Road, 220; remains in the Union, 
395; and the Civil War, 400 \ 

Mason and Dixon Une, 58 (note) 

Massachusetts, colony founded, 52-53; 
in the New England Confederation, 55; 
charter changes, 83 ; land-ownership in, 
102; liberty in, no, 113, 1^4; colonial 
governor in, 114; opposes stamp act, 
123; in the Revolution, 125-128, 136- 
141; first state constitution, 166; rati- 
fies Constitution, 175; western land claim, 
209 ; education in, 343 ; *and slavery, 366 

Massasoit, treaty with Pilgrims, 52 (note) 

Mayflower Compact, 51 

McClellan, General George B., in the Civil 
War, 399, 400, 404, 408 

McCormick, Cyrus, 298 

McKinley, WiUiam, as President, 524, 525, 
530, 544, 545, 588 

Meade, General George G., 414-415 

Mecklenburg County (N. C), Declaration, 
152 

Melting pot, America the, 75 

Mennonites, 70 

Merchant marine, 481-482, 616 



INDEX 



671 



Merchants, growth of, in Europe, 13-14 ; 
colonial, 09, 105-106 

Mcrrimac, the, 412 

Merritt, General Wesley, 54Q 

Mexico, conquest of, by Cortez, 28-30; 
explorations, 31-32 ; declares itself free, 
240; formation of the union, 269; war 
with, 274-276 ; troubles with, 603-605 ; 
German intrigue in, 619 

Michigan, in Northwest Territory, 211; 
population in 1810, 221; admission to 
Union, 268; copper mining in, 475 

Michigan, University of, 350 

Miles, General Nelson, 548 

MiUtarism, 625-626 

" Millions for defense," 190 

Milwaukee, 322 

Miners, 284, 459 

Mineral industries, 474-475 

Minnesota, admitted to the Union, 268; 
coal industry, 475; Scandinavian immi- 
gration to, 498 

Minutemen, 136-138 

Missionary Ridge, battle of, 418 

Missionaries, 2, 29 

Mississippi River, discovery of, 31; ex- 
plored by French, 79-80; coveted by 
Americans, 199-200; early travel on, 
199; as a boundary, 206; movement 
westward to, 215-221; movement across 
221-222; steamboat traffic on, 267; 
levees built, 449 

Mississippi, under the Ordinance of 1787, 
211-212; admitted to the Union, 222; 
secedes, 390 

Missouri, Daniel Boone in, 216; road to, 
220; admitted to th* Union, 222, 267, 
369-370; pioneers in, 267; population, 
1820, 267 ; contest over slavery, 267 ; 
remains in the Union, 395 ; in the Civil 
War, 395 (note), 401-402 

Missouri Compromise, 252, 267, 369-370; 
repealed, 379 ' 

Mobile, 449 

Money, paper, 158, 168, 183 (see note also), 
250, 527-528 

Monitor, the, 412 

Monitorial system in education, 342-343 

Monmouth, battle of, 150 

Monroe, 200; and Florida purchase, 206, 
252; administrations of, 251-253; "era 
of good feehng," 251 

Monroe Doctrine, 242-243, 540 

Montana, admission to Union, 463 ; gold 
industry, 475 ; copper mining in, 475 



Montcalm (mont-kam'), 87 

Monterey (mon-ta-ra'), battle of, 274 

Montezuma (mon-te-z6'ma), 29 

Montgomery, convention at, 391 

Montgomery, General Richard, 142 

Montreal, established, 77-78; taken by 
English, 88 

Moravians, 70 

Morgan, J. Pierpont, 4S8 

Mormons, origin of, 282 (note) ; migra- 
tions of, 283 ; settlement in Utah, 283 ; 
polygamy, 460 

Morrill Act, 557, 560, 562 

Morris, Robert, 158, 170 

Morse, S. F. B., 307-308 

Mount Holyoke, 345 

Mount Vernon, 156 

Mugwump, 523-524 

Murfreesboro, battle of, 403 

Napoleon, 187; First Consul of France, 
190; and the Louisiana Purchase, 198- 
200; and American commerce, 23Q; at 
Waterloo, 239 

Napoleonic Wars, 229, 240 

National forests, 591-592 

National Manufacturers' Association, 513 

National RepubUcans, or Whig party, 262 

Native American party, 321 

Natural resources, waste of, 469, 493 

Navigation, laws, 120, 121 

Navy, exploits during the Revolution, 154- 
15s; in the War of 1812, 23S-239; in 
the Civil War, 408-413 ; trip around the 
world, 597 

Nebraska, immigration into, 268; history of, 
458 ; admission to the Union, 458 ; Scan- 
dinavian immigration to, 498 

Necessity, Fort, 85 

Negro, after emancipation, 430; suffrage, 
432-433; political leaders, 435 ; deprived 
of vote, 437-438; economic position of, 
443-444 ; and new planting system, 444 ; 
independent farmer, 445 ; wages of, 446 ; 
the race problem, 452-453 

Neutrality, Washington's proclamation of, 
188; proclamation of 1914, 610 

Nevada, history of, 458 ; admission to Union, 
458; gold industry in, 475 

New Amsterdam, founded, 60-61. See New 
Netherland 

New England, confederation, 55 ; ship- 
building in, 99; land-ownership in, 102; 
government in, 107-1 10 ; emigration from, 
216; and the War of 1812, 236; rise of 



672 



INDEX 



industry in, 251, 289-295; and tariff of 
1816, 250; textile industry, 476 

New France, see France 

New Granada, 240 

New Hampshire, founded, 55; representa- 
tive government in, 112; appointment of 
royal governor in, 1 14 ; state constitution 
in, 166 

New Haven, 55 

New Jersey, origin of name, 63 ; Quaker 
proprietors of, 63 ; royal province, 63 ; 
land ownership in, 102 ; unit of govern- 
ment, in; representative government, 
112; appointment of royal governor in, 
114; College of, 116; Washington's re- 
treat through, 146; state constitution, 
166; ratifies Constitution, 174; manu- 
factures and the tariff, 249 

New Mexico, Spanish in the territory, 91 ; 
ceded to United States, 276; exploration 
by Pike, 279-280; admission to Union, 
465-466 

New Netherlands, plan for settlement, 61 ; 
capture by English, 62 

New Orleans, estabUshed, 80; growth of, 
91; French post, 198; passes to the 
United States, 201-203 ; trade through, 
219, 222; battle of, 236, 239; captured 
by Farragut, 403 ; shipping port, 449 

New Rochelle, 62 

New York, origin of name, 62 ; becomes a 
royal province, 62 ; settlements and popu- 
lation, 99 ; land-ownership in, 102 ; early 
trade, 105 ; counties in, in; representa- 
tive government in, 112; appointment of 
royal governor in, 114; state constitution, 
166; ratifies Constitution, 175; western 
land claims, 209; gateway to the Middle 
West, 212; manufactures and the tariff, 
249 ; manhood suffrage in, 333 ; education 
in, 344; and slavery, 366 

New York City, one of the chief cities, 106 ; 
early travel, 107 ; seat of King's College, 
116; in the Revolution, 145, 149, 150, 160; 
Washington inaugurated at, 176; capital 
of the United States, 184; transportation 
by canal, 300, 301 ; river transportation, 
302, 477, 479; ocean transportation, 309, 
501, 502; port of emigration, 318, 501, 
502; growth of, 322, 325, 491; early 
government in, 323; beginnings of free 
schools, 341; public high school, 348; 
newspapers, 353, 355, 356; educational 
extension, 563 

New Spain, 280 



Nicaragua Canal route, 594 

NobiUty, European, lo-ii 

Non-importation agreement, 130 

Non-intercourse Act, 232-233 

Norfolk, 106 

North, differs from South, 111-112 ; divided 
opinion on the Civil War, 391-392 ; ad- 
vantages of, in the Civil War, 396; war 
plans of, 397-398 

North American Review, 357 

North Carolina, explored, 47 (note) ; 
founded, 58; emigrants from, 100; in 
the Revolution, 152, 153; state con- 
stitution, 167; ratifies Constitution, 176; 
land for settlement in, 216; suffrage in, 
5Si ; early free schools in, 347 ; secedes, 
395 ; revival of industry in, 448 ; textile 
industry, 476 

North Church, 136 

North Dakota, admitted to the Union, 463 ; 
history- of, 463 ; see Dakotas 

Northwest Ordinance, 169, 170, 211 

Northwest Territory, 168-169; land in, 197; 
government of, 210; British forts in, 218; 
provision for education in, 346-347 

Norwegians, immigration of, 498 

Novel, the American, 358 

Nueces River, 274 

Nullification, doctrine of, 191, 256-259 

Oglethorpe (o'gl-thorp), James, 59 
Ohio, the country, contest for, 85 ; explora- 
tion of, 155-156; Northwest Territory, 
emigration to, 219; population, 18 10, 221; 
admitted to Union, 222; and the tariff, 
249; canals in, 301; migration to, 325; 
early suffrage in, sss ', state university, 
350; coal industry, 475 
Ohio Company, 85 
Ohio River, gateway to the Middle West 

and South, 212, 217-219 
Oil industry, 475 ; see Standard Oil Company 
Oklahoma, settlement and admission to 

Union, 464-465 ; oil industry, 475 
Oklahoma City, 464 
Old Ironsides, see Constitution 
Ordinance, Land, of 1785, 346, 350 
Ordinance, Northwest, 169, 170, 211 
Ordinance of 1787, 168-169, 170, 210, 368 
Oregon, early claims to, 207 ; controversy 
with England over, 277-279; settlement 
of, 277; admitted to the Union, 279, 455 
Oregon, the, 547, 593 
Otis, James, 123 
Owen, Robert Dale, 321, 345 



INDEX 



673 



Pacific Ocean, discovered by Balboa, 27-28 

Paine, Thomas, 142, 143, 357 

Palos (pa los'), harbor of, 24 

Panama Canal, 449, 592-596 

Panama, Isthmus of, 27 

Panics, 250, 261, 492 

Parcel post, 599 

Paris, Treaty of (1763), 88, 90; (1783), 156 

Parties, political, origin of, 186-187 

Patroons, 61; system, no 

Paulding, James K., 358 

Pawtucket, founded, no 

Payne-AIdrich Tariff Act, 525 

Pea Ridge, battle of, 403 

Peasants, aid in development of America, 3 ; 
life of, in Europe, 6-9 ; cruel treatment in 
England, 44 

Pemberton, General John C, 416 

Penn, William, 57, 58 

Pennsylvania, land grant to Penn, 57 ; 
religious toleration in, 57 ; Presbyterians 
in, 70; settlement of, 100; character of 
settlers, 74 ; land-ownership in, 102 ; 
counties in, in; early legislature, 112; 
governing class, 113; appointment of 
royal governor in, 114; University of, 
116; first state constitution, 166; gov- 
ernment in, 166; in the Revolution, 142, 
146, 147 ; manufactures and the tariff, 
249; iron industry, 296, 474; the canal 
system, 301-302 ; and slavery, 366 ; Lee 
in, 414 ; iron industry, 474 ; oil industry, 
475 ; coal industry, 475 

Pennsylvania, University of, 116 

Perry, Commodore Oliver H., 238 

Persecution, religious, 43-44 

Pershing, General John Joseph, 605 

Persia, trade with, 14, 15, 20 

Peru, conquered by Pizarro, 30; declares 
itself independent, 240 

Peter the Great, 93 

Petition, right of, and slavery, 372-373 

Philadelphia, founded, 58; population of 
(1763), 106; opposes stamp act, 124; 
Second Continental Congress in, 139 ; 
capture of, by the British, 146; /British 
leave, 150; Constitutional Convention, 
170, 174; national capital, 184; early 
government, 324; carpet manufacturing, 
476; Centennial Exposition, 562 

Phihppines, 28, 546, 549, 551, 553, 554, 616 

Phillips, Wendell, 337 

Pickett's charge, 415 

Pike, Zebulon, 205, 279-280 

Pilgrims, 50-54 



Pinckney, General Charles C, 170 
Pinzon (pen-thon'), explorations of, 27 
Pioneers, life among, 223-227 ; and political 

opinions, 226-227 
Pirates, Mediterranean, 231 
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 87, 125, 131, 

132, 138 
Pittsburgh, 85, 100, 212, 218, 219, 296, 474, 

514 
Pizarro (pi-za'ro), conquest of Peru, 30 
Planter, southern, decline in power of, 451 
Planting system, break-up of, 444 
Plymouth, founded, 51; hardships at, 52; 

in the New England Confederation, 55 
Plymouth Company, 47, 51, 52 
Poe, Edgar Allan, 359-360 
Poland, 5 

PoUtical leadership, a new type of, 588 
Political parties, evils in management of, 

580-581 
PoUtics, three decades of, 247 
Polk, James K., 263, 274, 278 
Polo, the brothers, 15 ; Marco, 15 ; book of 

travels, 24 
Polygamy, abolished, 460 
Pony express, 457 
Population, in English colonies, 84; on eve 

of Revolution, 99-100; foreign bom, 318; 

center of, 489-490 
Populist party, 529 
Portland, 463 
Porto Rico, occupation of, 548 ; government 

of, 554; position in the Caribbean, 605 
Port Royal, founded, 32 ; captured by the 

English, 85 
Portsm.outh, Treaty of, 596-597 
Portugal, interest in exploration, 4 
Portuguese, explorations of, 21, 23 
Postal savings banks, 599 
Potomac, Army of, 403 
Poverty, a cause of immigration, 71; in- 
crease of, 491 
Preparedness, in times of the Revolution, 

159-160 
Presbyterians, 43, 70 
President, the, 234 

President, creation of oflBce of, 172; elec- 
tion, 192 (note), 332. See Twelfth 

Amendment 
Presidential electors, popular choice of, 332 
Press, the, colonial, 115, 353-354; freedom 

of, 181, 354; rise and growth of, 352-357 ; 

growth of, after Revolution, 355-356; 

in the nineteenth century, 356-357; 

recent advance in, 566-567 



674 



INDEX 



Price, General Sterling, 401 
Prince Henry the Navigator, 21 
Princeton, battle of, 146 
Princeton College, origin of, 116 
Printing, development of, 45, 356, 566 
Profiteering, legislation against, 629 
Progressive party, rise of, 601-602 ; decUne, 

615 . 

Progressive Republicans, 600-601 

Prohibition, 536 

Proprietary colonies, 56-59 

Proprietors, 56-59 

Prospectors, 457-458 

Protestant Reformation, 41-42 

Protestants, in Europe, 41 ; in Pennsylvania, 
57 ; in France, 62 

Providence, founded, 55; spinning mill in, 
291 

Prussianism, 623-625 

Puritans, origin of, 42 ; found Massachu- 
setts, 52; character of, 54; life among, 
68-69 

Quakers, see Friends 

Quebec, founded, 32, 77; captured by 

British, 87 ; American expedition against, 

142 
Queen Anne's War, 84 

Railroads, development, 303-307 ; in 
South, 306, 448; in the West, 455, 478, 
479; growth of, since Civil War, 477; 
first transcontinental, 479; construction, 
479 ; government subsidies, 481 ; in- 
fluence of, 481 ; combinations among, 509 ; 
regulation of, 532, 533 ; controlled by 
government, 629 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 35, 47 (note) 

Randolph, John, 170 

Reaper, invented, 298 

Recall, 579 

Reclamation Act, 590-591 

Reconstruction in the South, 430-453 ; 
problems of, 430 

Referendum, 578-579 

Religion, early Christian, 3 ; and the schools, 
340-342 

Religious worship, freedom of, 181 

"Renter" System, 444-445 

RepubUcan party, 186; reforms, 195-196; 
second organized, 380; convention of 
i860, 385 ; attitude of leaders toward the 
South, 393; influence of labor, 513; 
administrations of, since 1868, 522-524; 
and the protective tariff, 524-525; and 



imperialism, 552-553; split in, 601; 
political campaign, 1916, 615 

Revere, Paul, 136 

Review, Outline for, 96, 177, 245, 362, 439, 
571, 634 

Revolution, the American, 136-161 

Rhode Island, founded, 54-55; election of 
colonial governor, 114; first state constitu- 
tion, 166; ratify Constitution, 176; in- 
dustry in, 292, 294 ; suffrage struggle, 333 

Richmond, 398, 399, 400, 418, 420, 422 

Right to vote, see Suffrage 

Rights, Declaration of, 128 

Rio Grande, 274 

Roads, in colonial times, 107 ; Shore Road, 
107; National Road, 220, 299 

Rochambeau (ro'shiim'boO, General, 153 

Rockefeller, John D., 487, 508, 510 

Rocky Mountains, 204, 205, 457 

Roosevelt, Theodore, appoints Government 
Public Lands Commission, 467 ; and the 
coal strike of 1902, 516; in the Spanish 
War, 547; as President, 588-597; in 
Progressive movement, 601 ; mediator 
for the Dominican Republic, 605 ; cam- 
paign of 1916, 615 

Rosecrans, General William S., 417 

Rotation in office, 226-227 

"Rough Riders," 547 

Rover, the, 279 

Russia, sixteenth century, 5 ; in North 
America, 93 ; and claims in the West, 
241, 243; emigration from, 500; in the 
Great War, 609 

Russo-Japanese peace, 596-597 

Sacajawea, 204 
St. Lawrence River, 77-78, 142 
St. Louis, founded, 81 ; under the Spanish 
rule, 91; French post, 198; exploration 
center, 204, 205 ; growth of, 267 ; fur 
trade in, 284; trade with cities on river 
and canal, 302 ; rail connections with the 
East, 306; steamboat trade, 322; Missis- 
sippi River open, 417; first manual 
training high school, 563 
Salt Lake City, 283 
Samoa, 542 

Sampson, Admiral William T., 547 
San Antonio (san an-to'ni-o), 93, 269, 271 
San Diego (siln de-a'go), founded, 93 
San Domingo, 605, 606 
San Francisco, 93, 281, 282, 463 
Sanitary Commission, United States, 425 
San Juan Hill (san ho-an'), battle of, 547 



INDEX 



675 



San Salvador, 26 

Santa Ana, defeated, 271 

Santa Fe, 93, 280 

Santa F^ trail, 279-280 

Santiago, battle at, 547 

Saratoga, British surrender at, 149 

Sault Sainte Marie (so sant mii-re'), 79 

Savannah (Georgia), 152, 420 

Savannah, the, 309 

Scandinavians, in sixteenth century, 5; 
Reformation among, 41 ; immigration of, 
498 

Schenectady, 99 

Schools, in pioneer days, 225-226; religious 
control of, 340; development of free, 
341 ; charity support of, 341 ; low cost, 
342-343 ; tax support, 343 ; leaders for 
free, 343-346 ; in New York, 344 ; move- 
ment in Northwest, 346-347 ; in the 
South, 347; high, 348, 349, 559-560; 
Latin grammar, 348; condition of, in 
1880, 557-558; in 1916, 558; technical, 
561-562 ; manual training, 562 

Schuyler, General Phihp, 149 

Scotch-Irish, 70, 100 

Scott, General Winfield, 275, 392 

Seattle, 463 

Secession, 390-395 ; reasons for, 390 

Sedition law, 191 

Senate of the United States, origin of, 171; 
popular election to, 582 

Separatists, 42-43, 51 

Serapis, the, 155 

Serfs, 46 

Seven Days, battle of, 400 

Seven Years' War, 86-87, 131, 198 

Seventeenth Amendment, 582, 658 

Seward, William H., 386, 421 

Sewing machine, invented, 294-295 

Shannon, the, 238 

Shays, Daniel, rebeUion of, 168 

Shenandoah Valley, 100, 421 

Sheridan, General PhiUp, 421 

Sherman Act, 533 

Sherman, Roger, 170 

Sherman, W. T., 419, 420, 421, 422 

Shiloh, battle of, 403 

Ship subsidies, 482 

Shipbuilding, 104-105, 308-309, 448, 482, 629 

Short ballot, 602 

Silver, mining in West, 458; coinage of, 
528-530; "bimetalhsm," 530 

Sitka, forts- at, 93 

Sixteenth Amendment, 526, 598-599, 658 

Slater, Samuel, 290-291 



Slave trade, 49-50; and commerce, 171 

Slaveholders, poUtical power of, 373 

Slavery, introduction of, 49, 72; and the 
Constitution, 171; in various sections, 
210, 212, 216, 282; struggle over, 364- 
386; aboUtion movement, 371-374; 
Compromise of 1850, 375-377; Emanci- 
pation, 403-406 ; Thirteenth Amendment, 
406. See Negro 

Smith, Captain John, 48 

Smith, Joseph, 283 

SmuggUng, 121, 126, 232 

Socialism, rise and growth of, 517-519, 533 

Sociahst party, 519, 617, 631 

South, land-ownership in, 102 ; colonial 
plantations in, 106; differs from the 
North, 107-111, 364; and the tariff, 253; 
resources of, 325; education in, 347; 
demands of leaders, 393 ; preparation 
for war, 395 ; leaders of, 395 ; reconstruc- 
tion, 430-438; mihtary rule in, 433; 
condition of, at close of Civil War, 442- 
444 ; rise of the new, 442-453 ; coal and 
iron in, 448; development of transporta- 
tion, 448-449; emigration to, 450; 
changes in life and labor, 450; new 
problems, 450; planting aristocracy, 451; 
race problem, 452-453 ; iron deposits in, 
474 ; oil industry in, 475 ; special educa- 
tional problems of, 558 

South CaroUna, founded, 58; frontiers of, 
100 ; early legislature in, 112; in Revolu- 
tion, 152, 153; first constitution, 167; 
land for settlement in, 217; nullification, 
258 ; railway experiments, 305 ; early 
education in, 350; secedes, 390; revival 
of industry in, 448 ; textile industry, 476 

South Dakota, admitted to the Union, 463 ; 
history of, 463. See Dakotas 

Spain, origin, 2; rivalry with England and 
France, 4; early unity in, 4; conditions 
of, in sixteenth century, 4; aids Colum- 
bus, 24; explorations of, 24-32; conquest 
of Mexico, 28-29; of Peru, 30; Armada 
defeated, 35; loses Florida, 88; gains 
Louisiana territory, 88-90; work on, in 
the Southwest, 90-91 ; colonization policy, 
92-93; at war with Great Britain, 154; 
loses Louisiana to Napoleon, 199; and 
the South American republics, 240; war 
against (1898), 544-549 
Spanish-American War, 544-549 
Speculation, era of, 250 
Speech, freedom of, 181 
Speedwell, the, 51 



(y']G 



INDEX 



Spices, trade in, 14, 26 

Spinning industry, 289-295 

Spokane, 463 

Spoils system, 255, 534, 575 

Spottsylvania Court House, 420 

Squatter sovereignty, 375, 381, 386 

Stagecoach, colonial, 107; Great Eastern 
Mail, 221 

Stamp Act, 124, 131, 152 

Stamp Act Congress, 123-124 

Stamp tax, 122-124, 133 

Standard Oil Company, 475, 487, 508, 533, 
568 

Standish, Miles, 52 (note) 

Stark, General John, 149 

State constitutions, first, 166-167 

Steam engine, invention of, 289 

Steamboat, invention of, 302 

Steel industry, 297, 448, 472-474 

Stephens, A. H., 391, 421 

Stephenson, George, 303 

Steuben, Baron von, 148, 158 

Stevens, John, 303 

Stevens, Thaddeus, 431 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 378 

Strikes, 514-517 

Stuarts in England, 43 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 62 

Submarine policy of Germany, 613-615, 617 

Subsidies, to encourage shipping, 309 

Suffrage, colonial, 112; in first states, 167; 
woman, 167, 335-337, 582-586; manhood, 
328-335; agitation for, z^x-^iz. See 
Negro 

Sumner, Charles, 431, 433 

Sumter, Fort, fired on, 394 

Sun, New York, first penny paper, 356 

Supreme Court of the United States, created, 
172 

Sutter's Mill, 281 

Swedes, early explorations, 5 ; found Dela- 
ware, 58; immigration of, 498 

Taft, William H., Tariff Commission es- 
tabUshed by, 527; election of, 597; 
administration of, 598, 599, 600; and 
Mexican situation, 604 

Taney, Chief Justice, 382 

Tariff, early demand for, 168; first protec- 
tive, 184-185; and war of 1812, 240; 
protective development of the issue, 247- 
250; of 1816, 249; of Abominations, 253; 
and the South, 253-254; and nuUification, 
256; the compromise, 259; revision of 
1842, 263 ; issue on eve of Civil War, 384 ; 



RepubUcans favor, 385 ; revisions of, 
since 1872, 524-527; revision of 1909, 
598; revision of, in 1913, 602 

Tariff Commission, 527 

Taxation, in Europe, 9 ; power of Congress, 
165, 173 

Taxes, war, 628, 629 

Taylor, General Zachary, 274, 375 

Tea, tax on, 126-127 ; Boston Party, 126-127 

Teachers, work in development of schools, 
346 

Technical schools, 562 

Telegraph, invention of, 307 

Telephone, invention of, 484 

Tenant system, growth of, 468 

Tennessee, pioneers in, 100; population, 
1790, 197; movement of population, 199; 
in territory south of Ohio, 212, 217; emi- 
gration to, 216; admitted to the Union. 
222, 368 ; manufactures and the tariff, 249 ; 
secedes, 390; war in, 418; iron deposits, 

474 

Territories, western, in 1876, 459 

Territory, Northwest, 210; south of Ohio, 
211 

Texas, visited by La Salle, 80; annexation 
favored, 263 ; a political issue, 264 ; 
claimed by United States citizens, 269; 
American migration into, 269, 270; 
Mexicans in, 270; independence de- 
clared, 271; controversy over annexation, 
272-273; admission to Union, 273-274; 
cause of War with Mexico, 274; secedes, 
390 ; oil industr>', 475 

Textile industry, 103, 476 

Thirteenth Amendment, 392-393, 656 

Thomas, General George H., 401, 417 

Ticonderoga, Fort, 141, 149 

Tilden, Samuel J., 523 

Tippecanoe, 262 

Toleration, religious, in Maryland, 56 

Tories, colonial, 134; and the Revolution, 
160 

Town, meaning of, 108 

Town meetings, 108-110 

Townshend Acts, 124-125, 126 

Township, meaning of, 108 

Trade, influence on national hfe, 4; with 
the East, 4, 14-16, 20 ; growth of, 14-16 ; 
laws, 120, 121; British poUcy in, 120: 
contest for, 168; Annapolis conference 
on, 170; regulation of, 171; down the 
Mississippi, 199; through New Orleans, 
219; injured by English and French 
blockade, 229-230; competition for, 248* 



INDEX 



677 



foreign, 324 ; in the North, 411 ; with the 

Far East, 549; during the Great War, 

612 ; in South America, 632 
Trade Acts, 133 
Trade union, origin of, 319-320 
Traders,. see Merchants 
Transportation, improvements in, 299-307; 

in the South, 448-449; changes due to, 

482 
Travel, in colonial times, 106-107 ; four 

eras of, 213; East and West, 220-221 
Treaties, right to negotiate, 171 
Treaty of Cession, 206, 222 
Treaty of Purchase, 201 
Trenton, battle of, 146 
Tribune, New York, influence of, 356 
Trusts, formation of, 508-510; "soulless 

corporation," 5 10-5 11 ; laws against, 533 ; 

dissolution of, 599 ; Clayton Law, 603 
Truxton, Captain Thomas, 190 
Turner, Nat, rebelHon, 372 
Tutuila, 542 

Twelfth Amendment, 192, 656 
Tyler, John, 263-264, 273, 274 
Typesetting machine, 566 

Uncle Tom's Cabin, 378 

"Underground railroad," 378 

Union Pacific Railroad, 479 

United States mail, 220-221 

University, extension, 563 ; state, beginnings 

of, 349-350 
Utah, territory organized, 284; history of, 

460; admission to Union, 460-461 

Valley Forge, 147-148 

Van Buren, Martin, 261-262, 379 

Vancouver, George, 207 

Vasco da Gama (gii'ma), 26 

Vassar College, 564-565 

Venezuela, 240; affair, 540-541 

Venice, early trade of, 15 

Vermont, admitted to the Union, 222 (note) ; 
boundary of, 263 

Verrazano (va'rat sa'no), explorations of , 32 

Vespucci (ves po'che), Amerigo, 26-27 

Vicksburg, surrender of, 416 

Villa, 604 

Vincennes (vin senz'), 156 

Virgin Islands, 606 

Virginia, name of, 47 (note) ; founded, 48 ; 
becomes a royal proNince, 50; Presby- 
terians in, 70; cavaliers in, 71 ; appoint- 
ment of royal governor in, 114; protests 
against Stamp Tax, 122-123; resolutions. 



191-192 ; western land claims, 209 ; 
emigration from, 216; land for settle- 
ment, 217 ; suffrage in, 331 ; secedes, 395 

Virginia, Army of, 403, 404, 420 

Vocational education, growth of, 561-563 

Volunteer System, 394, 397 

Vote, right to, 2 ; colonial restrictions on 
right to, 112. See Suffrage 

Wage System, 318-319 

War of 1812, 229, 234-240 

War Hawks, 234 

War Savings Stamps, 629 

War with Mexico, 270-276 

Warren, General Joseph, 140 

Wars, Intercolonial, 84-90 

Washington, George, at Fort Duquesne, 85 ; 
at Braddock's defeat, 85-86; in Revolu- 
tion, 141, 144-145, 146, 150, 153 ; sketch, 
156-157; and the Constitution, 168, 170; 
elected first President, 176; as President, 
181-189; Farewell Address, 189 

Washington, capital at, 184; Capitol burned, 

237 

Washington, territory of, 279; admitted to 
the Union, 463 ; history of, 463 

Watt, James, 289 

Webster, Daniel, 255, 257-258, 263 

Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 263 

Vv^est, settlement of, to the Mississippi, 209- 
221; beyond the Mississippi, 221-222; 
the Far West, 284-286; industries of, 
298-299; growth of the Far West, 455- 
458; geography of, 455, 457; home- 
steaders and prospectors in, 457; oil 
industry in, 475 

West Point, 150 

West Virginia, formation of, 395 ; admitted 
to the Union, 395 ; iron deposits, 474 

Western lands, state claims to, 209-210 

Whig party, 261-263, 379 

Whisky Rebellion, 185-186 

White Plains, battle of, 145 

Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 277 

Whitney, Eh, 291-292 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 359 

Wilderness, battle of, 420 

Willard, Emma, 344-345 

WilUam and Mary College, 116 

Wilhams, Roger, 54 

Wilmot, David, 375 

Wilson, Woodrow, 195 ; Industrial Relations 
Commission, 468 ; new Tariff Commission, 
527 ; Governor of New Jersey, 602 ; nomi- 
nated for the presidency, 602; adminis- 



6/8 



INDEX 



trations of, 602-606; in the Great War, 
609-633 

Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, 525 

Winchester, battle of, 421 

Winthrop, John, 53. 54 

Wisconsin, in the Northwest Territory, 211; 
reached by the westward movement of 
population, 266; admitted to the Union, 
268; civil-service reform in, 577; direct 
primary adopted in, 581 ; woman suffrage 
movement in, 584 

Wolfe, General James, 87 

Women, first, in Virginia, 48-49 ; and early 
manufacturing, 104; in the American 
Revolution, 159; pioneers, 223-225; in 
settlement of the West, 285 ; in factories, 
315-316; wages of, 319; organized, 320; 
early discriminations against, 335 ; pro- 
test against discriminations, 335"336; 
women's rights, convention of 1848, 336; 
suffrage and the slavery agitation, 337 ; 
education of, 350-351; and the Civil 



War, 425-426 ; labor of, 491-492 ; higher 
education of, 564-565 ; education and 
employment of, 575 ; suffrage, 582-586 

Woolen industry, colonial, 103 ; machinery 
in the, 293-294 

Workingman, see Labor 

Wright, Frances, 320, 336, 345 

Wright, Martha, 336 

Wyoming, in Louisiana Territory, 203 ; ad- 
mission to Union, 464, 584; ffrst state to 
grant woman suffrage, 583-584 

XYZ Affair, 190 

Yale College, 116 

York, Duke of, obtains grant of New York, 

62 
Yorktown, siege of, 153 
Young, Brigham, 283 
Young's Ranch, 278 

Zenger, Peter, and free press, 354 



Printed in the United States of America. 



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